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THOUGHTS  FOR  THE  OCCASION.  Series. 

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Compiled  from  the  addresses  of  the  most  eminent  divines  in  Europe 
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nan,  u.  jj.    Cloth,  i2mo,  500  pages.  Si   75 

THOUGHTS  FOR  THE  OCCASION. 

fort^o '^*J?^^  ^^"^^  '"^  ™^  CLOUD;  or.  Words  of  Com. 
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m  any  trial.  -From  Introduction  by  IFw.  M.  Taylor,  D.  D.  "  May 
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Evangelical  denominations.     A  helpful  volume  to  all  commissioned  to 

Go  and  Preach.  '     Edited  by  Rev.  VV.  P.  Doe.     443  pages.     3 1. 50 

THOUGHTS  FOR  THE  OCCASION.  /„  p^,,. 

Hi   5-.  ANNIVERSARY  AND  RELIGIOUS.      An   Epitome  oi 
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suggesting  themes  for  Timely  Occasions,   to  wit:    Christmas,  Com^ 
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CURIOSITIES  OF  THE  BIBLE.  (10,000)  Prize  Questions 
per  aining  to  Scripture,  Persons,  Places,  and  Things,  with  key  in- 
cluding Blackboard  Illustrations,  Chalk  Talks,  and  Seed  Thoughts, 
Hib le  Studies  and  Readings,  Concert  Exercises  and  Prayer-meeting 
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Liberal  Terms  to  Canvassers. 


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THOUGHTS^i^OCCASION 


patriotic  an&  Secular 


A  REPOSITORY  OF  HISTORICAL  DATA  AND 

FACTS,   GOLDEN  THOUGHTS,   AND 

WORDS  OF  WISDOM 


Helpful  in  Suggesting  Themes  and  Outlining  Addresses 
for  the  Observance  of  Timely  Occasions  Indi- 
cated by  our  Secular  Calendar  Year 


ARBOR  DAY 

DISCOVERY  DAY 

FLAG-RAISING  DAY 
GRANT'S  BIRTHDAY 


DECORATION  DAY 
EMANCIPATION  DAY 
FOREFATHERS'  DAY 
LABOR  DAY 


INDEPENDENCE  DAY 
LINCOLN'S   BIRTHDAY 
ORANGEMEN'S  DAY 


LIBERTY  DAY 

ST.  PATRICK'S  DAY. 

TEMPERANCE  SERVICE 


WASHINGTON'S  BIRTHDAY 


^r,    4i 


ii 


E. 


NEW  YORK 

B.  TREAT,  5  Cooper  Union 

Chicago  :  R.  C.  TREAT 
1894 


Price  31.75 


% 


Copyright, 

18941 
BY  E.  B.  TREAT. 


Til 


I 
I 

If 


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CO 


N, 


LiJ 


PUBLISHER'S  NOTE. 


This  volume  is  issued  in  response  to  many  inquiries : 
**What  have  you  helpful  in  the  preparation  of  a 
Decoration  Day  service?"  "Can  I  get  back  numbers 
of  the  Treasury  Magazine "  covering  given  subjects  ? 
''  Where  can  I  find  facts  concerning  the  history  of  the 
flag?  as  I  am  invited  to  make  an  address  on  a  Flag- 
raising  occasion."  "  Do  you  still  publish  '  Centenary 
Orations  delivered  in  1876'?"  ''Have  you  material 
helpful  in  making  up  a  Fourth  of  July  oration?" 

It  will  be  noticed  by  the  table  of  contents  that  a 
wide  variety  of  occasions  and  great  range  of  topics  are 
here  presented,  and  much  valuable  ready-reference 
material  has  been  collated  for  the'convenience  of  the 
general  reader  and  students  of  the  forensic  art. 

We  are  greatly  indebted  to  Joseph  Sanderson,  D.  D., 
whose  painstaking  care  is  evidenced  in  the  historical 
sketches  and  the  general  supervision  of  the  work.  Our 
obligations  are  also  extended  to  the  religious  and 
secular  press  for  many  of  the  selections,  and  due  credit 
has  been  given  for  extracts  and  quotations  where 
authorship  was  known  ;  care  being  taken  not  to  dupli- 
cate   or   trespass   upon  the    Timely   Service   columns 


Vll 


187095 


Vlll 


PUBLISHER'S  NOTE, 


found  in  the  bound  volumes  of  the  Treasury  Maga- 
zine, In  the  endeavor  to  secure  accuracy  in  the 
historical  data  and  facts,  we  have  been  compelled  to 
carefully  compare  conflicting  authorities  and  use  our 
best  judgment  in  the  statements  published. 

Office  of  The  Treasury  Magazine, 

Of  Religious  anei  Current  Thought. 
New  York,  June,  i8g4. 


■ ' 


CONTENTS. 


ARBOR  DAY. 


Historical, 

Arbor  Day  in  Schools,  .... 

Arbor  Day  Proclamation, 

Arbor  Day  Lessons,      .... 

Arbor  Day — When  and  How  to  Observe, 

What  Trees  to  Plant  Arbor  Day, 

Value  of  Rural  Beauty, 

Beauty  and  Benefits  of  Arbor  Day, 

Destruction  of  Forests, 

Arbor  Day  a  Necessity, 

The  Trees  of  the  Lord,      . 

Warnings  of  History,    .... 

An  Old  Custom  Revived,  . 

Arbor  Day  for  the  Sunday  School, 

Arbor  Day,  the  Children's  Holiday, 

History  of  Trees, 

Arbor  Day— The  Object  to  be  Attained, 
The  Age  and  Growth  of  Trees,     . 
Observation  on  Tree  Growth,  . 

The  Poetry  of  Trees, 

Historic  Trees,  An  Exercise  for  Arbor  Day, 


PAGE 

17 

I/on.  B.  G.  Northrop,   .  18 

Governor  of  Pennsylvania,  21 

Christian  at  Work,    .         .  22 

E.  A.  M.  in  Churchman,  25 

New  York  Evangelist^       .  27 

Selected,          ...  29 
Selected,     .        .        .        .30 

Report  Forestry  Congress,  31 
Selected,     .        .        .        .32 

Theo.  L.  Cuyler,  D.  D.,  33 

Hon.  Warre7i  Higley,        .  37 

Christian  at  Work,        .  39 

Sunday  School  Times,        .  40 

John  Laird  Wilson,       .  41 

William  Abbatt,         .        .  43 

Hon.  Andrew  S.  Draper,  45 

Charles  R.  Skinner,  .        .  46 

The  Gar  deft,  ...  48 
Selected,     .        .        .        .49 

Ada  S.  Sherwood,          .  53 


DISCOVERY  DAY. 


r 


-.-ii 

.V 


Historical, 

A  National  Holiday— Proclamation,     . 

A  Harvest  Time  Holiday, 

Old  and  New  Style  Dates  of  Discovery  and 

Dedication, 

Christopher  Columbus'  Faith,  .        . 
Discovery  and  Conquest  of  America,    . 
Christopher  Columbus  in  America  To-day, 
The  Pioneers  of  American  Independence,     . 
Columbus  and  Hendrick  Hudson,     . 
The  Man  for  the  Time,  .... 

Columbus  and  his  Treatment  of  the  Indians, 
America — Its  National  and  Individual  Ideals, 
Thoughts  Pertinent  to  Discovery  Day, 

ix 


Benjamin  Harrison,     . 
Selected,     .... 

Selected, 

New  York  Herald,     . 

Rev.  William  W.  Wilson, 

Herald  and  Presbyter, 

Robert  C.  Winthrop,     . 

Chauncey  M.  Depew, 

Selected, 

St.  Louis  Chr.  Adv., 

Bishop  Haygood,    . 


59 
61 

62 

63 
63 
65 
67 

69 

70 

72 

73 
76 

85 


I 


CONTENTS, 


CONTENTS. 


XI 


\ 


DECORATION   DAY. 


i 


Historical, 

Grand  Army  of  the  Republic.     First  Gen- 
eral Orders, 

The  Real  Cause  of  the  War, 

What  the  War  Settled,  .... 

Memorial  of  a  Preserved  Nation, 

The  Way  to  Honor  our  Patriotic  Dead, 

At  the  Graves  of  the  Nation's  Dead, 

The  Destruction  of  War,       .... 

Thou|:jhts  Pertinent  to  Decoration  Day  : 

Decorating  Graves  an  Ancient  Custom,     . 

An  Ancient  Custom,      .... 

Custom  of  the  Ages, 

The  First  Martyr  to  Freedom, 

The  Aim  and  Object  of  the  War, 

Obedience  to  the  Will  of  the  Majority,  . 

The  Significance  of  Flowers, 

The  Vow  of  the  Soldiers, 

Floral  Tribute  to  their  Memory, 

Each  Grave  a  Hallowed  Shrine,     . 

The  Worth  of  our  Nationality, 

The  Nobility  of  Patriotism,   . 

Our  Own  Heroes, 

Self-government  Insured, 

The  Language  of  Flowers, 

What  was  Gained  by  the  War, 

Perpetual  Gratitude  their  Due,  . 

A  Patriotic  Duty, 

The  Voice  of  History,         .... 

Years  will  Increase  our  Appreciation,    . 

The  Price  of  National  Life, 

Soldiers  from  a  Sense  of  Duty, 

Our  Principles  at  Stake,      .... 

Our  Defenders  not  Forgotten, 

Contrasts  of  Peace  and  War,     . 

Representatives  of  Public  Virtue,  . 

Heroic  Devotion  Merits  Reward, 

The  Great  Lesson  of  the  Age, 

Glorious  Deeds,  ...... 

A  Tribute  to  Martyrs,     .... 

Our  Country's  Gallant  Dead,     . 

The  Destruction  of  Liberty  the  Darkening 
of  Christianity,    ..... 

The  Homage  we  Owe  to  the  Fallen, 

All  Honor  to  the  Brave,     .... 

America's  Capacity  for  Self-government, 

America's  All  Saints'  Day, 

Our  Fallen  Heroes,         .... 

The  Brotherhood  of  Soldiers,     . 


John  A.  Logan ^    . 

R.  S.  MacArthur,  D.  D., 

Christian  Advocate^     . 

N.  Y.  Christian  Advocate, 

David  Gregg,  D.  D.,    . 

American  Wesley  an. 

Anonymous, 

Selected,   .... 
Col.  Curtis,  . 
A.  T.  Slade,  Esq.,   . 
Chaplain  J.  B.  Moore, 
Rev.  W.  W.  Meech, 
Hon.  James  A.  Garjjeld, 
Col.  Henry  C.  Deming,    . 
Rev.  IV.  F.  Mallalieu, 
Richard  H.  Dana,  Jr.,     . 
Capt.  George  S.  Mitchell, 
J.  Bunker  Congden,  Esq., 
Dr.  Robert  T.  Davis, 
Capt.  FitzJ.  Babson,  . 
Capt.  W.  H.  S.  Sweet,     . 
Selected, 

Rev.  J.  F.  Meredith, 
Rev.  F.  Moore,  D.  £>., 
Rev.  William  Harris, 
Capt.  A.  C.  Little, 
Rev.  Mr.  Baumme, 
Rev.  Homer  Everett,  . 
Capt.  T.  A.  Minshall,      . 
Gen.  John  C.  P.  Shanks, 
Col.  John  Mason  Brown, 
Robert  Grahatn,  D.  D., 
Col.  John  P.Jackson, 
Gen.  Carl  Schiirz, 
Mr.  H.  A.  Reid,      . 
Hon.  Theodore  Romey?t, 
J.  C.  Patterson, 
Rev.  Joseph  H.  Twichell, 

Gen.  John  A.  Logan, 
Hon.  Schuyler  Colfax, 
Maj.  Ben:  Per  ley  Poore,  . 
Pres.  E.  B.  Fairjield, 
Rev.  William  M^Kinley, 
Rev.  H.  W.  Bolton,  D.  D., 
Miles  O'Reilly,     . 


PAGE 
97 

99 

lOI 

102 
102 
104 
108 


WASHINGTON'S  V>\KlYiXiW.— Continued. 


WASHINGTON'S   BIRTHDAY. 


Biographical, 

Address  to  the  American   Troops.   August 

27,  1776,  ...... 

Washington  and  the  "  Cause  of  '76," 
Oration  on  Washington  before  Connecticut 

Legislature, 


George  Washington^ 
Thomas  Davis, 

Dr.  StileSy    . 


109 
no 
no 
III 

112 
114 
116 
116 
118 
118 
119 
119 
120 
120 
121 
122 
124 
125 

126 
127 
130 

132 
132 

134 

135 

135 
136 

138 

138 

139 
141 

141 

142 

144 

146 


153 
156 

158 


Washington  as  President, 

The  Genius  of  Washington, 

Eulogy  of  Washington,     .... 

Eulogium  on  Washington,    .... 

Washington  a  Model  for  the  Formation  of 

Character, 

The  Great  Man's  Biography  in  a  Nutshell, 
Washington  Monument ;  Its  History,  . 
Legend  of  Washington,     .... 


Chas.J.  Fox,  . 
Edwin  P.  Whipple, 
Fisher  Ames,    . 
Charles  Phillips, 

W.  Wirt, 
R.  E.  Roberts, 
New  York  Witness, 
Bishop  M,  Simpson, 


PAGE 

.  159 

160 

.   161 

164 

.  166 

168 

.  169 

177 


INDEPENDENCE   DAY. 


Historical, 

National  Holidays, 

The  Nation's  Birthday— Past,  Present,  and 

Future, 

The  Day  we  Celebrate,      .... 
Great  Ideas  that  should  be  Emphasized  on 

Independence  Day,  .... 

Keeping  Alive  our  National  Principles,     . 
A  Costly  Heritage,         .        .        .         .        • 
Proper  and  Improper  Modes  of  Celebrating 

the  Day, 

True  Patriotism,         .         .         .         .         • 
The  Grand  Mission  of  America.    . 
The  Matchless  Story  of  American  History, 
The  Freedom  of  America  the  Result  of  an 

Open  Bible, 

Our  American  Age, 

The  Beginning  of  Government,     . 
The  Trust  to  Succeeding  Generations, 
Political  and  Personal  Liberty,     . 
Our  National  Influence,     .... 

The  Men  of  1776, 

The  Liberty  we  Need  Now, 

The  Religious  Repose  and  Future  of  our 

Country,  ...... 

The  Different  Motives  of  the  Settlers, 

Our  Heritage,  How  Gained— Our  Duty, 

The  Demands  of  the  Hour, 

What  the  Age  Owes  to  America, 

The  Signers  of  the  Declaration, 

The  Progress  of  the  Divine  Ordinance  of 

Government, 

The  English  and  French  Experiment, 
The  Patriot's  Inheritance— Its  Dangers, 
The  Dedication  of  Bunker  Hill  Monument- 
Address,  

The  Cost  of  the  Revolution, 


Congregationalist^ 

Selected,  . 

Christian  Inquirer^     . 

Religious  Telescope, 
Neiv  York  Evangelist, 
Princeton  Press, 


Court  land  Parker, 
Hon.  Robt.  C.  Winthrop, 
Brooks  Adams, 
R.  C.  Winthrop,  . 
Judge  David  J.  Brewer,  . 
Thos.  Armitage,  . 
Hon.  Robt.  C.  Winthrop, 
Rev.  J.  W.  Loose,     . 

Rev.  John  Lee, 
Court  land  Parker,  . 
Leonard  Bacon,  D.  D., 
J.  M.  Buckley,  D.  D.,      . 
Wm.  M.  Evarts, 
Selected,   .        .        .        . 

Wm.  M.  Evarts, 
Wm.  M.  Evarts, 
Rev.  W.  B.  Riley, 

Daniel  Webster, 
Zion's  Herald, 


EMANCIPATION   DAY. 


Historical,  .... 

The  Emancipation  Proclamation, 
Freedom's  Natal  Day, 
The  Future  of  the  Negro, 
The  Progress  of  the  Franchise, 


181 
184 

185 
188 

190 
194 
197 


Vermont  Watchman,  .  198 

Rev.  H.  W.  Bolton,  D.  D.,  200 

Leonard  Bacon,  D.  D.,  201 

James  O'Bryne,        .        .  203 


204 
205 
207 
208 
210 
212 
213 
215 

218 
222 
223 
224 
225 
226 

229 
231 
232 

234 
235 


243 

Rev.  Joshua  A.  B rocket t,  246 

Jesse  Lawson,  .        .         .  255 

North  American  Review,  256 

Henry  Ward  Beecher,      .  259 


\  ^^^<:m^^SW^'^~''-''^'*^'^^ 


Xll 


CONTENTS. 


EMANCIPATION   DAY.— Continued, 

Part    in    the 

G.  T.  Allen  y 


Washington    and    Lincoln's 

Emancipation, 

The  Results  Achieved  by  the  Soldiers  and 

Sailors, 

The  Rights  of  the  Negro, 
The  Religion  of  the  Negroes, 
The  Abolition  of  Slavery, 

Emancipation  Day, 

A  People  Emancipated  by  Defeat,    . 
The  Negro  and  Southern  Restoration, 
Thoughts  Pertinent  to  Emancipation  Day, 

FLAG-RAISING 

Historical, 

Our  Flag  in  History,      .        .        .    *    .    '    . 
History  and  Origin  of  our  National  Air  and 

Other  Patriotic  Songs,    .... 
Our  National  Emblem,      .... 

Our  Flag, 

The  Widespread  Influence  of  the  Flag,     . 
A  Notable  Flag-raising,         .... 
Cultivating  Love  for  the  Flag,  . 
Americans    Rallying  Round    the    National 

Flag, 

No  Flag  except  "  Old  Glory,"  . 
The  Beautiful  and  Glorious  Banner,     . 
The  Old  Flag  Restored  at  Fort  Sumter,    . 
The  American  Flag, 


E.  E.  Williamson^   . 
John  Svointon^ 
P.  Pastor  Hood, 
Henry  Ward  Beecher^ 
Wm.  M.  Evarts, 
H.  W.  Grady,       . 
H.  W.  Grady,  . 


PAGE 
261 

264 
265 
266 
268 
269 
270 
273 
275 


DAY. 


Hon.  J.  T.  Headley,    . 

Selected,    .... 
Henry  Ward  Beecher^ 
Rev.  H.  H.  Birkins, 
R.  S.  Robertson,  . 
W.  R.  Maxfield,       . 
Ex-Pres.  B.  H.  Harrison  ^ 

Miss  H.  E.  Burnett, 
Mail  and  Express, 
Col.  W.  A.  Prosser, 
Henry  Ward  Beecher^ 
y.  Rodman  Drake,  . 


FOREFATHERS' 

Historical, 

The  Benefits  of  its  Observance,     . 
The  Debt  we  Owe  to  the  Dutch, 
Our  New  England  Forefathers.     . 
America's  Debt  to  Holland, 
Our  Debt  to  Puritan  and  Pilgrim, 

Forefathers'  Day, 

The  Advantages  of  a  Mixed  Ancestry,  . 
The  Ruling  Sentiment  of  the  Pilgrims,     . 
Admiration  for  the  Puritan  Characters, 
The  Dutch  as  Neighbors,  .... 
The  Forefathers  were  God's  Nobility,  . 
Their  Ideal  of  Education, 

Their  Heritage  to  Us, 

Plymouth  and  its  Surroundings, 


DAY. 


Ex-Judge  Russell, 

Rez).  David  Gregg,  D.  D., 

Rev.  H.  Way  land,  D.  /)., 

Herald  and  Presbyter^     . 

Congregationalist, 

Rev.  D.J.  Burr  el  I.  D.  D., 

Rev .  H.J.  Van  Dyke,  D.  D. , 

Edward  Everett  Hale,     . 

T.  DeWitt  Talmage,  D.D., 

A.  V.  Raymond,  D.  D.^   . 

Chauncey  M.  Depew,    . 

Seth  Loiv, 

David  C.  Robinson^ 

Morning  Star^ 


GRANT'S   BIRTHDAY. 

Biographical, 

Our  Victorious  General, 

None  but  himself  can  be  his  Parallel, 

The  Grandeur  of  Grant's  Character,     . 

Grant's  Character, 

Eulogy  of  General  Grant,      . 

Our  Public  Schools, 

Grant's  Magnanimity,    .... 
Words  that  Live,      ' 


Chauncey  M.  Depevo, 
Rev.  H.  W.  Bolton, 
George  W.  Bungay, 
Hon.  J.  T.  Head  ley, 
Rev.  J.  P.  Newman, 
U.  S.  Grant,    . 
Hon.  H.  A.  Herbert, 
U.  S.  Grant,    . 


279 
284 

287 
289 
292 

294 

295 
299 

301 
303 
304 
305 
3" 


31S 
316 

318 

321 

324 
326 

328 
329 
334 
339 
344 
351 
353 
354 
358 


369 
370 
373 
375 
376 
380 

383 
385 
387 


CONTENTS. 


XllI 


LABOR  DAY. 


Historical,  .... 

Labor  Strikes,  Chronology  of. 

Labor  Day,        .... 

Workingmen's  Day, 

Labor  Day  and  Holidays, 

The  Labor  Question, 

The  Labor  Question — Hobbies, 

The  Labor  Problem, 

Labor  Organizations, 

The  Courts  and  Labor  Organizations, 

The  Dignity  of  Labor, 

The  Dignity  of  Labor, 

Free  Labor, 

Labor  and  Capital, 

Capital  and  Labor,    . 

Capital  and  Labor,  Views  of. 

Land  and  Labor, 

Labor  the  Source  of  Wealth, 

The  Labor  Question, 

Combination  of  Capital  and  Consolidation 

of  Labor, 

Labor  and  Capital,  Adjustments  between, 
The  Rights  of  Laboring  Men, 
The  Discontent  of  the  Times,    . 
Useful  Lessons  of  Labor  Day, 


PAGE 

393 

J.  Sanderson,  D.  D.,  .  393 
New  York  Times,  .  .  400 
Selected,  .  .  .  401 
Selected,  ....  402 
Alfred  Wheeler,  D.  D.,  404 
Southwestern  Methodist,  406 
Western  Recorder,  .  409 
Rev.  C.  H.  Zimmerman,  411 
Religious  Telescope,  .  413 
Ernest  Gilmore,  .  .417 
Mail  and  Express,  .  420 
Col.  W.  Prosser,  .  .421 
Presbyterian  Banner,  .  425 
Maj.  Ben:  Per  ley  Poore,  .  427 
Ex-President  Harrison,  429 
Rev.  Chas.  Leach,  D.  D.,  431 
William  M.  Evarts,  434,  463 
T.  DeWitt  Talmage,  D.D.,   436 


Judge  David  J.  Bre7ver,  . 

Bishop  S.  G.  Haygood, 

S.  E.  Wishard, 

Rev.  R.  S.  Storrs,  D.  D., 

Samuel  Gompers, 

The  Century  Magazine, 


Cause  of  much  Idleness  and  Crime, 

Labor  Trouble, Watchman, 

What  Constitutes  a  Strike,        .        .         .  Chicago  Tribune, 

The  Remedy  for  Strikes,        ....  Selected,   . 

Socialism  of  our  Times,     ....  Sup.  Court  Just.  Brown, 


444 
448 
450 
453 
457 
458 
462 
464 

465 
466 


LINCOLN'S  BIRTHDAY. 


Biographical, 

Lincoln's  Birthday,  February  12,  1809, 
Abraham  Lincoln,     .        .        .        .        , 
Abraham  Lincoln,  our  Martyred  Leader, 
Lincoln's  Choice  and  Destiny, 
Lincoln  the  Hero  of  his  Convictions,    . 
A  Tribute  to  Lincoln,        .        .        .         . 
The  Greatness  of  Lincoln's  Simplicity, 
Lincoln  as  Cavalier  and  Puritan, 
Anecdotes  and    Incidents    in    the    Life 
Lincoln,       


of 


Prof.  David  Swing, 
Rev.  H.  W.  Bolton,  D.  D., 
Henry  Ward  Beec her. 
Rev.  P.  M.  Bristol, 
Rev.  Leroy  Hooker, 
Bishop  J.  P.  Newman, 
Rev.  H.  A.  Delano, 
H.  W.  Grady,      . 


469 

470 
470 

471 
474 
474 
476 
476 

477 

478 


LIBERTY  DAY. 


Historical, 

A  Notable  Day,     .... 

An  Appropriate  Name, 

The  Significance  of  this  Holiday, 

The  Spirit  of  the  Revolution,    . 

The  Beginning  of  Constitutionality, 

The  Proto-Martyrs  of  Liberty,  . 

The  Aim  of  the  Future, 

The  Spirit  of  True  Americans, 

That  Liberty  Bell, 


487 

Hon.  Mellen  Chamberlain,  489 

Ex-Judge  Hoar,       .        .  490 

Judge  Keyes,         .         .  492 

Hon.  Winslow  Warren,  .  493 

Gov.  Greenhalge,  .  494 

Hon.  J.  C.  Breckenridge,  496 

Ex-Gov.  Robinson,  .         .  498 

Hon.  Winslow  Warren,  500 

C.  B.  Brown,   .        .        .  502 


XIV  CONTENTS, 


ORANGEMEN'S  DAY. 

PAGE 

Historical, 505 

General  Declaration, 506 

Thoughts  Pertinent  to  Orangemen's  Day, 508 

Why  I  am  a  Protestant, 515 

ST.  PATRICK'S  DAY. 

Historical, 519 

Lessons  from   St.  Patrick's  Character  and 

Work, Dr.  Edward  McGlynn^    .  520 

The  Doctrines  held  by  St.  Patrick,   .        .         Dr.  John  Hall,     .        .  525 

TEMPERANCE  SERVICE. 

Historical, 529 

Temperance  Organizations, 533 

Colonial  and  State  Temperance  Laws, 535 

Temperance  Day, Herald  and  Presbyter,  538 

Temf)erance  Legislation  in  the  United  States, 539 

Temf)erance, Joseph  Cook^          .        .  541 

Christian  Liberty  not  a  License,        .         .         Pev.  Dr.  C.  L.  Thompson,  543 

The  Churches  and  the  Saloons,     .         .        .     Neal  Doiv,        .        .        .  544 

Gospel  Temperance  Reform,     .         .         .          Thomas  C.  AUirphy,     .  546 

Gains  of  Temperance  in  Massachusetts,        .     Congregationalist,    .        .  552 

Beer,  a  Harmless  Drink  ?  .         .         .         .         Neal  Dow,    .        .         .  553 

The  Rotting  Quality  of  Beer,        .        .        .     Temperance  Advocate,     .  554 

Total  Abstinence, Archbishop  Ireland,     .  555 

Battle  against  Alcohol,          .        .        .        .     E.  Chenery,  M.  D.,          .  556 

The  License  System,          ....         Mrs.  E.  Foster,   .        .  557 

The  Saloon  the  Giant  Curse,         .        .        .     Pev.  Father  J.  M.  Cleary,  558 

Cures  for  Drunkenness,     ....         Sir  B.  W.  Richardson,    .  561 

Wanted— A  Crusade, Zion's  Herald,      .         .  562 

Statistics  of  the  Liquor  Traffic,         .         .          (7.  S.  Int.  Rev.  Report,  .  563 

Christian  Endeavorers  and  the  Dramshop,       D.J.  Burrell,  D.  D.,  566 

Effects  of  Prohibition  in  Atlanta,  Ga.,          .     Henry  W.  Grady,     .         .  568 

Effects  of  Prohibition  in  Maine,        .        .         Neal  Dow,    ...  571 

Use  only  the  Best  Liquor  !     .         .         .         .    John  B.  Cough,         .         .  572 

A  Shot  at  the  Decanter,     ....         Rev.  Theo.  L.  Cuyler,  573 

The  Impeachment  of  Alcohol,       .         .         .     Rev.  C.  H.  Fowler,  D.  D.,  574 

Bad  Example  a  Stumbling-block,      .         .         Rev.  Theo.  L.  Ctiyler,      .  574 

To  the  Workingmen  of  Scotland,          .         .     Rev.  Theo.  L.  Cuyler,  575 

Pertinent  Facts  and  Thoughts, 576 


i 


THOUGHTS  FOR  THE   OCCASION 


ARBOR  DAY. 

«•  ^    V.1      Thp  first  suffeestion  respecting  the  annual  planting 
H.storical.-The  first  sugges  v      ^  Northrop,  secretary 

of  trees  by  ch^'ren  is  atriDuteQ  lo  ^^^  suggestion 

of  the  Connecticut  Board  of  ^^"*;^"°"'  ,,  ;„  favor,  and  in 

in  his  official  report  of  1865.  ^^  ,  f!^^''"?' 7„f ^feaicut  to  simulate 
,876  he  offered  P"^«=  ^o  the  children  of  Connecticut 

ing  of  trees  throughout  the  f  tat^'     'X\2.\Lxt  in  which  provision 

^rooo'l^'trborS?--'  -  now  in  a  thriving  condition  on 

•  ^'PIS^^J:^^^^^^^  S  .otw ed 
ThfeTari^ftlrSa  with  f -d  resuUs     Ne^t  co.es  Iowa. 

then  Illinois^  StherA^tr^DaTl-'^.eln  recognized  and 
^n'co^urlged'by  ttdvil  Authorities,  1a  forty  States  now  observe 
the  custom  Republic,  The  Grange  organizations 

t:trZS.^  of^lanW  t^es  for  s.utary  economic. 

and  atmospheric  purposes,  has  been  that  lor  tne  auo 

home  ^"d  school  grounds.  ^^^.^^^  ^^  ^^^ 

dafiI.^tlnd^'rein^November!TheGoverno^o^^^^^^^^^^ 
this  year  by  proclamation  itPP°'"\^^  '^".^^Ylt^jPs  being  dete?- 
l^T^^^^^:^  'co'^lTi^fnr-ff  Florida  .themes 
about  the  middle  of  February. 


A 


i8 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


On  the  observance  of  the  first  Arbor  Day  in  Ohio  in  1882,  the 
children  of  Cincinnati  celebrated  it  by  planting  memorial  trees 
and  dedicating  them  to  authors,  statesmen,  and  other  distin- 
guished citizens.  This  has  come  to  be  known  as  the  "  Cincinnati 
plan,"  and  originated  with  Hon.  Warren  Higley,  President  of  the 
Ohio  Forestry  Commission. 

The  first  Arbor  Day  in  New  York  was  in  April,  1889,  when 
more  than  half  of  the  school  districts  reported  as  having  planted 
trees  about  school  grounds,  and  selected  the  maple  as  the  State 
tree.  The  Friday  following  the  first  day  of  May  in  each  year  is 
Arbor  Day  in  New  York  State  by  an  Act  of  the  Legislature. 


) 


ARBOR  DAY  IN  SCHOOLS. 

HON.    B.   G.   NORTHROP. 

Arbor  Day  for  economic  tree  planting  and  Arbor  Day 
in  schools  differ  in  origin  and  scope.  Both  have  been 
erroneously  attributed  to  me,  though  long  ago  I  advocated 
tree  planting  by  youth,  and  started  the  scheme  of  centennial 
tree  planting,  offering  a  dollar  prize  in  1876  to  every  boy 
or  girl  who  should  plant,  or  help  in  planting,  five  "  centen- 
nial trees  "  ;  still  the  happy  idea  of  designating  a  given  day 
when  all  should  be  invited  to  unite  in  this  work  belongs 
solely  to  ex-Governor  J.  Sterling  Morton,  recently  appointed 
Secretary  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture. His  able  advocacy  of  this  measure  in  1872  was  a 
marvelous  success  the  first  year,  and  still  more  each  suc- 
ceeding year.  So  remarkable  have  been  the  results  of 
Arbor  Day  in  Nebraska,  that  its  originator  is  gratefully 
recognized  as  the  great  benefactor  of  his  State.  Proofs 
of  public  appreciation  of  his  grand  work  are  found  through- 
out the  State.  It  glories  in  the  old  misnomer  of  the  geo- 
graphies, *' The  Great  American  Desert,"  since  it  has  be- 
come so  habitable  and  hospitable  by  cultivation  and  tree 
planting.  Where,  twenty  years  ago,  the  books  said  trees 
would  not  grow,  the  settler  who  does  not  plant  them  is 
the  exception.  The  Nebraskans  are  justly  proud  of  this 
great  achievement  and  are  determined  to  maintain  this  pre- 
eminence.    The  great  problem  was  to  meet  the  urgent  needs 


ARBOR  DAY. 


19 


of  vast  treeless  prairies.  At  the  meeting  of  the  American 
Forestry  Association,  held  at  St.  Paul  in  1883,  my  reso- 
lution in  favor  of  observing  Arbor  Day  /'//  schools  in  all 
our  States  was  adopted,  and  a  committee  was  appointed  to 
push  that  work.  Continuing  as  their  chairman  from  that 
day  to  this,  I  have  presented  the  claims  of  Arbor  Day 
personally,  or  by  letter,  to  the  Governor  or  State  School 
Superintendent  in  all  our  States  and  Territories. 

My  first  efforts  were  not  encouraging.  The  indifference 
of  State  officials  who,  at  the  outset,  deemed  Arbor  Day  an 
obtrusive  innovation  was  expected,  and  occasioned  no  dis- 
couragement. My  last  word  with  more  that  one  gov- 
ernor was  :  "'  This  thing  is  sure  to  go.  My  only  question 
is.  Shall  it  be  under  your  administration  or  that  of  your  suc- 
cessor ? "  Many  State  officials  who  at  first  were  apathetic,  on 
fuller  information  have  worked  heartily  for  the  success  of 
Arbor  Day.  The  logic  of  events  has  answered  objections. 
Wherever  it  has  been  fairly  tried  it  has  stood  the  test  of 
experience.  Now  such  a  day  is  observed  in  forty  States 
and  Territories,  in  accordance  with  legislative  act  or  recom- 
mendation of  State  agricultural  and  horticultural  societies 
or  the  State  grange,  or  by  special  proclamation  of  the  Gov- 
ernor or  recommendation  of  the  State  School  Superinten- 
dents, and  in  some  States  by  all  these  combined.  It  has 
already  become  the  most  interesting,  widely  observed,  and 
useful  of  school  holidays.  It  should  not  be  a  legal  holiday, 
though  that  may  be  a  wise  provision  for  the  once  treeless 
prairies  of  Nebraska. 

Popular  interest  in  this  work  has  been  stimulated  by  the 
annual  proclamations  of  Governors  and  the  full  and  admira- 
ble circulars  of  State  and  County  School  Superintendents 
sent  to  every  school  in  the  State. 

Arbor  Day  has  fostered  love  of  country.  It  has  become 
a  patriotic  observance  in  those  Southern  States  which  have 
fixed  its  date  on  Washington's  Birthday.  Lecturing  this 
season  in  all  these  States,  I  have  been  delighted,  as  also  in 
former  years,  to  find  as  true  loyalty  to  the  Stars  and  Stripes 


X 


20 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


in  them  as  in  the  North.  This  custom  of  planting  memorial 
trees  in  honor  of  Washington,  Lincoln,  and  other  patriots, 
and  also  of  celebrated  authors  and  philanthropists,  has 
become  general.  Now  that  the  national  flag  with  its  forty- 
four  stars  floats  over  all  the  schoolhouses  in  so  many  States, 
patriotism  is  effectively  combined  with  the  Arbor  Day 
addresses,  recitations,  and  songs.  Among  the  latter  "  The 
Star-Spangled  Banner"  and  "America"  usually  find  a 
place.  Who  can  estimate  the  educating  influence  exerted 
upon  the  millions  of  youth  who  have  participated  in  these 
exercises  "i  This  good  work  has  been  greatly  facilitated  by 
the  eminent  authors  of  America  who  have  written  so  many 
choice  selections  in  prose  and  poetry  on  the  value  and 
beauty  of  trees,  expressly  for  use  on  Arbor  Day.  What 
growth  of  mind  and  heart  has  come  to  myriads  of  youth 
who  have  learned  these  rich  gems  of  our  literature  and 
applied  them  by  planting  and  caring  for  trees,  and  by 
combining  sentiments  of  patriotism  with  the  study  of  trees, 
vines,  shrubs,  and  flowers,  and  thus  with  the  love  of  Nature 
in  all  her  endless  forms  and  marvelous  beauty  ! 

An  eminent  educator  says  :  "  Any  teacher  who  has  no 
taste  for  trees,  shrubs,  or  flowers  is  unfit  to  be  placed  in 
charge  of  children."  Arbor  Day  has  enforced  the  same  idea, 
especially  in  those  States  in  which  the  pupils  have  cast 
their  ballots  on  Arbor  Day  in  favor  of  a  State  tree  and  State 
flower.  Habits  of  observation  have  thus  been  formed  which 
have  led  youth  in  their  walks,  at  work  or  play,  to  recognize 
and  admire  our  noble  trees,  and  to  realize  that  they  are 
the  grandest  products  of  nature  and  form  the  finest  drapery 
that  adorns  the  earth  in  all  lands.  How  many  of  these 
children  in  maturer  year  will  learn  from  happy  experience 
that  there  is  a  peculiar  pleasure  in  the  parentage  of  trees — 
forest,  fruit,  or  ornamental — a  pleasure  that  never  cloys,  but 
grows  with  their  growth. 

Arbor  Day  has  proved  as  memorable  for  the  home  as  the 
school,  leading  youth  to  share  in  dooryard  adornments. 
Much   as  has   been  done  on    limited  school  grounds,  far 


ARBOR  DAY, 


21 


greater  improvement  have  been  made  on  the  homesteads 
and  the  roadsides.  The  home  is  the  objective  point  in 
the  hundreds  of  village  improvement  societies  recently 
organized.  The  United  States  Census  of  1890  shows  that 
there  has  recently  been  a  remarkable  increase  of  interest 
in  horticulture,  arboriculture,  and  floriculture.  The  reports 
collected  from  4,510  nurserymen  give  a  grand  total  of 
3,386,855,778  trees,  vines,  shrubs,  roses,  and  plants  as  then 
growing  on  their  ground.  Arbor  Day  and  village  improve- 
ment societies  are  not  the  least  among  the  many  happy 
influences  that  have  contributed  to  this  grand  result. 

Clinton,  Conn. 

New  York  Independent. 


ARBOR  DAY  PROCLAMATION. 

Extract  from  the  proclamation  of  the  Governor  of 
Pennsylvania  on  Arbor  Day: 

*'Let  the  people  lay  aside  for  a  season  the  habitual 
activity  of  the  day  and  devote  sufficient  time  thereof  to 
plant  a  forest,  fruit,  or  ornamental  tree  along  the  public 
highways  and  streams,  in  private  and  public  parks,  about 
the  public  schoolhouses  and  on  the  college  grounds,  in 
gardens  and  on  the  farms,  thus  promoting  the  pleasure, 
profit,  and  prosperity  of  the  people  of  the  State,  providing 
protection  against  floods  and  storms,  securing  health  and 
comfort,  increasing  that  which  is  beautiful  and  pleasing  to 
the  eye,  comforting  to  physical  life,  and  elevating  the  mind 
and  heart,  and  by  associations  and  meetings  excite  public 
interest  and  give  encouragement  to  this  most  commendable 
work." 


What  earnest  worker,  with  hand  and  brain  for  the  bene- 
fit of  his  fellow-men,  could  desire  a  more  pleasing  recogni- 
tion of  his  usefulness  than  the  monument  of  a  tree,  ever 
growing,  ever  blooming,  and  ever  bearing  wholesome  fruit  ? 

IRVINQ. 


22 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


ARBOR  DAY  LESSONS. 
Arbor  Day  is  a  holiday  of  so  recent  birth  that  it  has  not 
yet  become  a  matter  of  history,  but  as  every  event  holds  a 
lesson  for  those  who  care  to  seek  for  it,  a  glance  at  the 
cause  of  its  institution  and  the  necessity  thereof,  will  not 
be  time  lost  in  profitless  reading.  The  commg  of  the  day 
reminds  us  of  our  ignorance  in  regard  to  trees  of  any  sort, 
even  those  of  our  own  country. 

We  know  that  our  forests  are  in  danger  of  bemg  deci- 
mated by  the  ruthless  strokes  of  the  woodchopper's  ax,  and 
we  know  that  to  prevent  that  crisis,  children,  in  the  West 
especially,  have  been  encouraged  on  this  holiday  to  plant 
some  tree  or  shrub  to  provide  for  future  use  and  beauty. 
Kansas  is  said  to  be  almost  devoid  of  trees  of  any  size,  but 
in  California  they  grow  to  such  huge  proportions  that  a  car- 
riage and  horses  can  be  driven  through  some  of  the  cloven 
trunks  and  houses  be  built  in  their  branches  ;  these  in- 
stances  prove  conclusively  to  us  that  the  growth  of  trees 
depends  upon  climate,  etc. 

As  far  back  in  our  knowledge  of  Biblical  history  as  the 
time  when  Noah  and  his  family  are  said  to  have  been  rid- 
ing in  the  ark  on  the  face  of  the  waters  more  than  2000 
years  b  c  ,  we  read  that  he  sent  out,  from  the  window  that 
he  had  opened,  a  dove,  and  that  at  evening  she  returned  to 
him  with  an  olive  leaf  that  she  had  plucked.  In  the  land 
of  Palestine,  the  land  of  olive  oil  and  honey,  the  olive  tree 
is  always  classed  among  those  of  most  value.  It  is  men- 
tioned  in  the  Greek  and  Roman  classics,  by  the  Greeks  be- 
ing dedicated  to  Minerva,  and  used  in  the  crowning  of 

Jove  and  Apollo.  ^ 

It  was  used  in  the  building  of  Solomon  s  Temple,  the 
beautiful  wood  being  overlaid  with  gold.  To  prepare  the 
booths  for  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  one  of  the  three  great 
feasts  kept  by  the  Jews  every  year,  the  wood  of  the  olive 
was  also  used.  The  tree  is  very  long-lived  ;  some  writers 
tell  us  that  the  ancient  trees  now  in  Gethsemane  are  be- 


ARBOR  DAY. 


23 


lieved  by  many  to  have  sprung  from  the  roots  of  those  that 
stood  there  at  the  time  of  Christ's  agony  in  the  Garden, 
and  that  they  may  be  two  thousand  years  old.  From  the 
parent  root  there  come  up  many  shoots  to  adorn  it  while 
living,  and  to  succeed  it  when  dead. 

When  Solomon  decided  upon  the  building  of  the  Temple, 
he  sent  fourscore  thousand  men  to  hew  in  the  mountains  ; 
besides  which  he  sent  to  Huram,  King  of  Tyre,  for  cedar, 
fir,  and  algum  trees,  and  we  read  that  the  wood  cut  out  of 
Lebanon  was  sent  to  him  "  in  floats  by  sea  to  Joppa." 

Although  the  culture  of  fruit  trees,  shrubs,  and  occasion- 
ally ornamental  trees,  was  practiced  by  Egyptians,  Greeks, 
and  Romans,  the  cultivation  of  timber  trees  on  a  large  scale 
belongs  to  modern  times.  In  the  days  of  Charlemagne  the 
greater  part  of  France  and  Germany  was  covered  with 
immense  forests,  and  one  of  that  emperor's  greatest  acts 
was  the  uprooting  of  part  of  those  forests  to  make  way  for 
orchards  and  vineyards. 

Artificial  planting  was  begun  in  Germany  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  and  only  sparingly  in  Britain  a  century  later. 
Upon  the  seizure  of  the  Church  lands  by  Henry  VIII.  the 
quantity  of  timber  thrown  upon  the  market  so  reduced  its 
value  that  instead  of  building  cheap  cottages  of  willow  and 
common  wood,  they  were  then  built  of  the  best  oak. 

Planting  was  not  general  in  England  until  the  beginning 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  when  by  the  establishment  of 
botanic  gardens  in  that  and  other  countries  an  interchan^-e 
was  the  cause  of  much  progress  in  that  way,  and  planting 
for  profit  became  widespread.  During  the  time  of  the  war 
of  i8i2,  because  of  the  scarcity  of  timber  for  naval  pur- 
poses and  the  great  expense  of  obtaining  supplies  from 
foreign  countries,  the  planting  of  trees  received  an  uncom- 
mon stimulus,  but  with  the  declaration  of  peace  in  1815  it 
ceased,  and  the  raising  of  ornamental  trees  and  shrubs  took 
its  place. 

In  all  thickly  peopled  countries  the  forests  no  longer 
supply  the  necessities  for  wood  by  natural  production,  and 


24 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


ARBOR  DAY, 


25 


England  has  had  to  turn  to  her  possessions  in  India  for 
help  :  the  teak,  deodar,  and  babool,  which  cover  large 
tracts  in  North  India,  supply  her  railway  fuel ;  the  gum 
trees  on  the  Nilgiri  hills,  the  cinchona  on  various  mountain 
ranges,  the  mahogany  of  Bengal,  the  acacia  of  Australia, 
each  contribute  its  share  to  her  needs. 

A  small  portion  only  of  the  trees  cultivated  in  Britain 

are  indigenous  ;  some  are  natives  of  other  parts  of  Europe, 

but  about  two-thirds  of  the  whole  are  from  North  America  ; 

and  they  are  scarcely  worth  the  trouble  and  expense  of 

cultivation,  for  the  summers  are  not  sufficiently  hot  nor  the 

light  great  enough  to  bring  them  to  a  perfect  maturity. 

The  conifers,  or  resinous  trees,  such  as  the  larch,  Scotch 

pine,  cluster  and  spruce  pine,  the  silver  fir,  and  the  yew, 

are  characterized  by   straight  trunks  and    needle  shaped 

leaves  without  veins.     Of  these  the  larch  produces  the  best 

timber,  and   is  extremely  durable,  and  besides  its  timber 

the  bark  is  useful  in  tanning.     Next  in  value  is  the  Scotch 

pine,  which   furnishes  the  yellow  deal  of  the   Baltic  and 

Norway.     The  value  of  the  spruce  fir  is  not  in   its  being 

sawn  into  boards,  but  centers  in  poles  of  every  kind,  from 

those  that  support  a  hop  vine  to  the  making  of  masts  for 

small  ships. 

Among  our  home  trees  we  note  the  ash,  the  elm,  beech, 
maple,  chestnut,  sycamore,  birch,  walnut,  poplar,  willow, 
and  horse  chestnut.  Their  names  and  habits  should  be 
familiar  to  everyone.  It  is  a  source  of  congratulation  that 
we  have  this  Arbor  Day,  for  it  reminds  us  of  our  needs  and 
their  remedy.  We  plant  a  tree  or  a  shrub  because  others 
do  the  same  thing,  we  teach  the  school  children  what  a 
beautiful  thing  landscape  gardening  is,  and  as  we  show  them 
how  tree  planting  is  done,  they  learn  the  lesson,  and  then 
they  pass  it  along  to  others,  and  in  that  way  we  hope  to 
add  to  our  gardens,  our  fields,  and  forests,  more  value  and 

much  beauty. 

Christian  at  Work. 


ARBOR  DAY— WHEN  AND  HOW  TO  OBSERVE. 

Arbor  Day  is  now  a  regular  American  institution. 
From  a  small  beginning  in  1872,  it  has  grown  to  be  a 
school  frolic,  enjoyed  by  scholars  and  teachers  alike,  and, 
what  is  better  than  all,  the  homes  of  our  land  claim  their 
share  in  the  happiness.  The  wise  man  who  started  the  ball, 
away  out  in  the  treeless  western  State,  has  lived  to  see 
Arbor  Day  kept  as  a  festival  in  nearly  every  State  in  the 
Union.  Of  course  in  a  country  so  broad  and  long  as  the 
United  States,  there  could  be  no  one  date  suited  to  the 
climate  of  all.  The  season  that  is  just  right  for  tree  plant- 
ing in  Florida  finds  the  soil  of  Iowa  still  frozen  hard  ;  the 
flowers  are  bloomincr  in  Texas  before  the  forests  of  Maine 
can  boast  a  few  swollen  buds.  So  the  wise  ones  who 
planned  for  this  new  gala  day  were  puzzled  about  the 
best  date. 

After  trial  of  many  plans,  they  adopted  the  only  one  at 
all  feasible,  and  all  along  from  Washington's  Birthday,  in  the 
extreme  South,  up  to  early  May  in  the  northernmost  States, 
Arbor  Day  has  taken  its  place,  and  will  no  doubt  hold  its 
own  among  the  holidays  of  the  American  people.  It  has 
done  a  wonderful  work  among  the  children,  not  only  in  its 
influence  as  a  practical  factor  in  the  beautifying  of  the 
yards  and  streets  about  the  school  buildings  ;  but  best  of 
all  has  been  the  impetus  given  by  it  to  the  study  of  nature. 
The  very  fact  that  once  every  year  the  youth  of  our  coun- 
try may  prepare  for  a  day  devoted  to  trees,  has  aroused 
them  to  observe  and  ask  questions,  and  the  coming  genera- 
tion will  know  more  about  them  than  did  their  fathers  and 
mothers. 

Each  locality  has  its  own  methods  for  celebrating  the 
day,  and  from  year  to  year  they  are  varied  enough  to  keep 
up  a  healthful  interest.  Generally  there  is  a  gathering  of 
scholars  and  friends,  music  by  the  children,  recitations  and 
essays,  talks  about  trees,  quotations  about  them  from  many 
great  writers,  and  bright  little  speeches  from  visitors — these 


26 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION. 


and  other  things  that  are  suggested  by  the  occasion.  Then 
for  the  practical  part  of  the  tree  planting :  the  scholars 
march  about  the  grounds,  with  banners  flying  and  music 
swelling  on  the  breeze,  until  they  reach  the  spot  where  the 
young  trees  await  their  coming  ;  there  they  halt,  the  trees 
are  planted,  and  the  name  bestowed. 

Often  the  trees  are  named  in  honor  of  some  distinguished 
person,  or  some  dear  friend  of  the  school,  a  favorite  teacher, 
or  superintendent.  Then  a  chosen  one  will  explain  the 
name  and  give  a  sketch  of  the  person  thus  honored.  Some- 
times the  children  plant  many  varieties  of  trees,  and  each 
child  assumes  a  name;  then,  in  turn,  they  describe  their 
own  special  tree,  where  it  originated  and  all  about  it. 
Sometimes  a  class,  or  a  department,  or  even  a  whole  school 
select  a  tree  and  claim  it  for  its  own.  A  pretty  idea 
would  be  to  have  the  scholars  vote  for  a  favorite  kind  of 
tree,  and  each  give  the  reasons  for  his  choice. 

One  can  readily  see  what  an  interesting  programme 
might  be  made  for  Arbor  Day.  If  the  children  are  too 
small  to  make  speeches  and  understand  the  whole  affair,  a 
wise  teacher  might  gather  her  little  flock  about  her  and  tell 
them  much  that  would  please  them.  Where  children  do 
not  attend  school,  or  are  taught  at  home,  let  the  mother 
make  a  family  picnic,  and  have  each  child  bring  a  leaf  or 
branch,  with  the  promise  of  a  story  from  mother,  or  a  little 
speech  of  explanation  from  father  or  elder  brother. 

Even  the  very  youngest  child  will  have  pleasant  memo- 
ries lingering  about  the  word  '*  trees,"  and  Arbor  Day  will 
have   a   place  with   such   bright   spots   as   Thanksgiving, 

Christmas,  or  Fourth  of  July. 

E.  A.  M.  ///  Churchman. 

What  a  noble  gift  to  man  are  the  Forests  !  What  a 
debt  of  gratitude  and  admiration  we  owe  to  their  beauty 
and  their  utility  I  How  pleasantly  the  shadows  of  the 
wood  fall  upon  our  heads  when  we  turn  from  the  glitter 
and  turmoil  of  the  world  of  man  ! 

COOPER. 


ARBOR  DAV, 


27 


WHAT  TREES  TO  PLANT  ARBOR  DAY. 

The  celebration  of  Arbor  Day  in  our  country  began  in 
treeless  Nebraska  in  1872.  In  1893  forty  States  had 
adopted  the  custom,  and  now  the  schools  have  made  it  a 
universal  festival  in  all  parts  of  the  Union.  It  has  been 
wisely  suggested  that  each  State  should  choose  its  own 
tree,  which  in  every  case  should  be  one  that  will  thrive 
best  in  its  soil.  New  York  State  has  chosen  the  maple. 
In  a  circular  which  the  United  States  Department  of  Agri- 
culture  has  issued,  the  best  four  trees  for  planting  in  street 
and  park  are  said  to  be  the  sugar  maple,  red  maple,  Ameri- 
can linden  or  basswood,  and  American  elm.  During  the 
War  of  Independence  poplar  trees  were  planted  as  a  symbol 
of  our  growing  freedom,  and  they  were  called  trees  of 
liberty.     The  poplar  grows  very  fast. 

In  the  olden  times  trees  were  planted  about  the  home  to 
commemorate  events  in  the  family.  Grandfather's  and 
grandmother's  maple  trees  still  stand  in  front  of  the  old 
homestead  gate.  They  were  planted  on  their  wedding  day, 
many  years  ago.  Large,  grand  trees  they  are  now,  and 
they  have  been  the  homes  of  generations  of  birds  who  have 
been  reared  amid  their  branches  and  taught  how  to  use 
their  wings,  and  each  summertime  they  seem  to  increase  in 
number.  A  new  tree  was  planted  when  each  little  child 
came  to  gladden  the  home.  They  were  called  birthday 
trees.  Here  and  there  on  the  homestead  grounds  stand 
the  memorial  trees,  planted  when  some  of  the  loved  ones 
went  away  from  the  home  on  earth  to  the  Father's  home 
above. 

Xerxes  was  very  fond  of  trees,  and  once  when  he  was  on  a 
march  he  rested  under  the  shade  of  a  large  plane  tree  of 
great  beauty.  He  was  so  pleased  with  it  that  he  presented 
it  with  a  golden  chain,  to  be  twined  like  a  sash  around  its 
body.  Before  he  resumed  his  march,  he  caused  the  figure 
of  the  tree  to  be  stamped  on  a  golden  medal,  which  he  wore 
in  memory  of  the  tree.     The  plane  tree  was  very  much 


28 


THOUGHTS  FOR   THE  OCCASION. 


esteemed  by  the  Greeks  and  Romans.  It  is  still  planted 
in  the  south  of  Europe  and  about  London,  but  it  does  not 
thrive  in  our  climate.  Our  buttonvvood  tree  is  very  similar 
to  the  plane. 

The  study  of  trees  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  studies 
in  nature.  Some  of  our  young  people  say  they  cannot  tell 
a  maple  from  an  elm,  or  an  oak  from  a  birch.  This  should 
not  be  so.  Watch  the  different  habits  of  trees,  the  variety 
of  leaves  the  different  kinds  have,  and  the  variety  of  ways 
the  boughs  grow.  Poplars  lift  upward  all  their  boughs. 
Trees  the  most  lovingly  shelter  and  shade  us,  when,  like 
the  willow,  the  higher  soar  their  summits  the  lowlier  droop 
their  boughs.  We  have  all  learned  that  there  is  no  other 
place  so  pleasant  for  children  to  play  as  under  those  kindly 
trees  that  drop  their  boughs  over  them  and  shelter  them 
from  the  sun  in  the  summer  days.  Where  does  luncheon 
ever  taste  so  good  as  it  does  under  the  trees  when  we  are 
picnicking?  How  often  when  we  have  been  weary  and 
fretted  with  the  cares  of  life,  have  we  found  rest  and  quiet 
sitting  down  and  leaning  against  the  trunk  of  some  grand 
tree  that  grows  by  the  wayside. 

It  is  quite  an  art  to  plant  a  tree  so  that  it  will  take  root 
and  grow,  and  those  who  have  had  experience  say  the 
small  trees  are  the  ones  that  bear  transplanting  the  best. 
Old  trees  do  not  like  to  be  moved  to  new  places,  and  will 
not  take  root  easily  in  new  soil.  They  seem  to  lose  courage 
when  they  lose  the  old  familiar  place  and  its  surroundings. 
It  is  quite  an  easy  thing  to  plant  a  tree,  but  quite  a  hard 
thing  to  make  it  live  and  grow.  So,  if  you  are  going  to 
plant  trees,  get  the  best  methods  of  planting  them  from  the 
most  experienced  transplanters.  **  He  who  plants  a  tree, 
or  a  bush,  or  a  fiower,  works  with  God  to  beautify  the 
garden  of  the  world." 

A^ew  York   Evangelist. 


"  A  TREE,"  says  Pope,  "  is  a  nobler  object  than  a  king  in 
his  coronation  robes." 


ARBOR  DAY. 


29 


VALUE  OF  RURAL  BEAUTY. 

As  time  goes  on,  people  are  learning  more  and  more  of 
the  value  of  adorning  their  homes  and  surroundings  with 
what  nature  so  freely  furnishes.  This  taste  is  not  confined 
to  the  country.  In  fact,  it  might  be  said  with  much  truth 
that  the  denizen  of  the  city  is  doing  much  more  in  this 
direction  than  our  rural  friends.  The  fine  parks  that  have 
been  purchased  and  embellished  by  the  highest  art  of  the 
landscape  gardener  fully  attest  this.  The  great  parks  pro- 
jected in  and  around  Boston,  New  York,  and  Chicago  might 
be  instanced  as  works  which  possess  the  highest  type  of 
rural  adornment.  Again,  city  people  are  turning  their 
attention  to  the  country,  and  are  making  the  waste  and 
abandoned  places  fine  rural  retreats,  where  their  occupants 
can  escape  from  the  heat  and  dust  of  summer,  and  enjoy 
country  life  with  all  its  beauties.  This,  we  think,  will 
settle  in  time  the  question  of  the  abandoned  farms  of  New 
England,  as  their  value  as  summer  homes  is  better  known 
to  the  people  of  our  large  towns.  On  this  point  we  quote 
from  Garden  and  Forest  .- 

"  It  is  encouraging  to  know  that  in  so  many  places  there  is 
a  growing  tendency  to  purchase  so-called  waste  lands  and 
to  hold  them  for  the  enjoyment  of  the  people.  We  call  to 
mind  another  region  in  Connecticut  where  the  villagers  are 
united  in  their  interest  to  preserve  all  the  rural  charms  of 
the  neighborhood.  Miles  of  highway  have  been  purchased 
with  no  other  purpose  than  to  allow  nature  to  frolic  in  her 
own  free  way  by  the  roadside.  Forests  have  been  bought 
that  they  might  be  held  for  public  enjoyment,  and  the  feel- 
ing of  the  community  is  strong  for  the  preservation  of  all 
wild  spots  which  will  help  to  satisfy  the  desire  for  beauty 
and  repose.  The  State  of  New  Hampshire  has  considered 
it  worth  while  to  recognize  officially  the  value  of  its  moun- 
tain passes  and  ravines,  its  lakes  and  cascades,  and  to  pro- 
vide roads  and  paths  for  the  purpose  of  making  them 
accessible.     All  this  indicates    that  every  year  there  are 


."•*^ 


30 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASIO^T. 


ARBOR  DAY, 


31 


more  people  who  find  pleasure  and  rest  In  the  contempla- 
tion of  natural  beauty,  and  therefore  there  is  reason  for 
more  earnest  protest  against  the  wanton  marring  of  that 
beauty." 


THE  BEAUTY  AND  BENEFITS  OF  ARBOR  DAY. 

Nothing  more  delightful  can  be  conceived  than  the  cel- 
ebration of  Arbor  Day  as  seen  in  some  of  the  Western 
States.  Not  only  the  children  of  the  public  schools,  but 
their  fathers  and  mothers  turn  out  to  plant  trees  on  this 
anniversary.  The  minds  of  those  engaged  in  this  work  are 
naturally  directed  toward  the  advantage  of  green  shade 
trees  in  an  arid  waste.  The  beautiful  similies  of  the  Bible 
doubtless  rise  to  the  lips  of  many  of  them  ;  Eastern  peoples 
thoroughly  understood  how  necessary  trees  are  to  the  gath- 
ering of  moisture,  and  consequently  to  the  preservation 
and  nutrition  of  all  vegetable  life. 

In  the  city  of  New  York  two  thousand  children  between 
the  ages  of  five  and  fourteen  were  at  the  Spring  Flower 
Show  at  Madison  Square  Garden  the  first  Friday  in  May, 
1893.  Each  of  these  received  a  pot  of  geranium  or  other 
plant  easy  to  take  care  of,  and  the  labors  of  these  children 
in  house  gardening  is  to  be  tested  at  the  next  flower  show, 
when  a  number  of  prizes  will  be  awarded  to  the  most  suc- 
cessful. 

Outside  of  Madison  Square  Garden  the  celebration  of 
Arbor  Day  was  confined  to  the  public  schools.  The 
form  taken  in  these  institutions  is  "appropriate  exercises." 

[Page  53.J 

It  is  quite  certain  that  the  vast  majority  of  our  city 
public  school  children  will  never  have  any  opportunity  to 
plant  trees.  It  is  equally  sure  that  most  of  them  are  not 
able  or  are  too  lazy  to  cultivate  plants  in  pots  in  their 
homes.  But  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  teachers  arousing 
in  the  children  under  their  control  an  interest  in  the  names 


of  trees  in  the  public  parks,  in  the  beauty  of  their  foliage, 
their  flowers  or  their  fruit.  It  would  be  well  for  many 
teachers  if  they  devoted  some  of  their  own  time  to  acquir- 
ing sufficient  knowledge  of  trees  to  convey  it  to  their 
pupils. 


DESTRUCTION    OF   FORESTS. 

Some  of  the  figures  presented  to  the  Forestry  Congress 
recently  held  are  in  point  here.     From  them  it  appears  that 
the  woodland  of  the  United  States  now  covers  450,000,000 
acres,  or  about  twenty-six  per  cent,  of  the  whole  area.     Of 
this  not  less  than  25,000,000  acres  are  cut  over  annually,  a 
rate  of  destruction  that  will  bring  our  forests  to  an  end  in 
eighteen  years  if  there  is  no  replanting.     It  is  also  stated 
that  while  the  wood  growing  annually  in  the  forests  of  the 
United  States  amounts  to   12,000,000,000  cubic  feet,  the 
amount  cut  annually  is  24,000,000,000  feet,  and  this  does 
not  include  the  amount  destroyed  by  fire.     The  country's 
supply  of  timber,  therefore,  is  being  depleted  at  least  twice 
as  fast  as  it  is  being  reproduced,  and  it  is  easy  to  see  that 
unless  this  process  is  soon  checked,  it  will  not  be  many 
years  before  the  country  is  suffering  from  a  decrease  in 
rainfall,  and  the  consequent  drying  up  of  the  streams.     No 
observant  person  can  fail  to  have  noticed  in  his  own  locality 
the  great  change  in  the  volume  of  water  in  the  brooks  and 
rivers  as  the  years  go  on.     Nearly  all  the  tributaries  of  the 
upper  Mississippi  have  lost  one-half  of  their  former  supply 
of  water.     Inundations  in  the  spring  are  more  frequent, 
while  now  in  the  summer  the  depth  of  many  of  these  rivers 
average  hardly  more  inches  than  could  be   measured  by 
feet  thirty  years  ago.     The  snowfall  is  irregular,  and  the 
climate  is  subject  to  abrupt  changes  at  all  seasons  of  the 
year.     And  what  is  true  of  the  Northwest  in  these  par- 
ticulars is  true  to  a  greater  or  less  degree  of  all   parts  of 
the  United  States. 


.:ja-i5!|o!|ia!5»«5g<!'ga5|^  : 


3^ 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 
ARBOR   DAY   A   NECESSITY. 


Arbor  Day,  judging  from  the  great  amount  of  interest 
which  both  the  press  and  pubhc  are  taking  in  the  matter, 
has  come  to  be  a  sort  of  annual  festival  and  public  holiday 
over  a  great  portion  of  the  country,  and  is  being  more 
generally  observed  as  the  years  go  by. 

This  is  as  it  should  be.  Systematic  tree  planting  as  a 
means  not  only  of  re-stocking  the  denuded  districts  in  the 
older  sections  of  the  country,  but  also  of  creating  a  growth 
of  timber  on  the  hitherto  treeless  plains  of  the  far  West, 
is  important,  if  not  an  actual  necessity.  Since  the  inaugu- 
ration  of  Arbor  Day  millions  and  millions  of  fruit,  shade, 
and  forest  trees  have  been  planted,  adding  to  the  beauty 
and  value  of  homes  and  lands,  and  thus  increasing  the 
prosperity  of  the  whole  community. 

Tlierefore  let  everyone  who  can— whether  he  be  at  home 
on  the  farm  or  a  village  or  suburban  resident  with  ground 
adapted  to  the  purpose— assist  in  commemorating  Arbor 
Day  by  planting  one  or  more  trees  as  the  circumstances 

permit. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  wait  for  any  special  day  to  plant 
trees  ;  if  the  season  is  favorable,  set  them  out  whenever 
and  wherever  the  opportunity  presents  itself.  One  great 
point  is  not  to  neglect  the  trees  after  they  have  been 
planted.  They  should  receive  a  certain  amount  of  after 
culture,  have  the  ground  kept  clear  of  weeds  and  grass  and 
be  properly  mulched.  ^^^^^^^^^ 

There  is  something  nobly  simple  and  pure  in  a  taste  for 
the  cultivation  of  forest  trees.  It  argues,  I  think,  a  sweet 
and  generous  nature  to  have  this  strong  relish  for  the 
beauties  of  vegetation,  and  this  friendship  for  the  hardy 
and  glorious  sons  of  the  forest.  He  who  plants  a  tree  looks 
forward  to  future  ages,  and  plants  for  posterity.  Nothmg 
could  be  less  selfish  than  this. 

IRVING. 


ARBOR  DAY. 


33 


THE  TREES  OF  THE  LORD. 

BY  THEODORE  L.    CUYLER,  D.  D. 

I  CONFESS  to  an  inordinate  passion  for  trees.  Sir  Walter 
Scott  going  about  Abbotsford  with  Tom  Purdy  setting  out 
firs  and  larches,  commands  my  admiration  more  than  Mr. 
Gladstone  ''lifting  up  his  axes  upon  the  thick  trees";  for 
I  would  almost  as  soon  see  a  deadly  weapon  raised  against 
a  child.  For  over  thirty  years  I  have  been  sending  commu- 
nications to  the  religious  press  from  "Under  the  Catalpa." 
A  tough  hardy  veteran  tree  he  is  too — set  out  more  than 
forty  years  ago  by  the  man  who  came  into  this  street  soon 
after  Dr.  Samuel  H.  Cox  built  here  his  '*  Rus-Urban  "  cot- 
tage. There  is  not  much  beauty  in  the  old  fellow  except 
in  June,  when  his  limbs  are  laden  with  most  luxuriant 
masses  of  white  blossoms.  They  soon  wither  and  strew 
the  ground  with  black  rubbish  that  does  not  improve  the 
grass  ;  and  in  the  spring  there  comes  down  another  shower 
of  long  brown  seed-pods.  In  spite  of  these  inevitable  nui- 
sances, I  rejoice  in  the  stalwart  catalpa  whose  broad  green 
leaves  have  a  tropical  luxuriance,  and  whose  limbs  have 
wrestled  with  the  storms  of  nearly  fifty  winters.  I  once 
spied  a  lady  gathering  up  the  leaves  and  stuffing  them  into 
her  reticule.  She  said  she  was  the  wife  of  a  Western  mis- 
sionary, and  was  intending  to  take  the  leaves  home  and 
sell  them  at  an  approaching  church  fair  !  I  assured  the 
good  woman  that  I  appreciated  the  compliment  paid  to  my 
old  arboreal  companion,  and  would  be  glad  if  she  would 
come  and  clear  my  yard  every  year  of  the  faded  and  fallen 
glories  which  had  outlived  their  usefulness. 

The  Bible  is  full  of  trees  ;  from  the  time  when  Adam 
and  Eve  sat  under  their  shadow  in  Eden,  on  to  that  splen- 
did vision  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  where  the  tree  of  life 
bears  twelve  manner  of  fruits  and  its  leaves  are  for  the 
healing  of  the  nations.  Absalom's  oak,  and  Elijah's  juni- 
per, and  Jonah's  gourd,  and  the  sycamore  which  hoisted 
little  Zaccheus  into  notice,  are  all  familiar  to  every  Sunday 


34 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


ARBOR  DAY, 


Z^ 


i 


school  scholar.  Our  Lord  hung  one  of  his  most  solemn 
parables  on  the  boughs  of  a  barren  fig  tree,  and  drew  one 
of  his  most  apt  illustrations  of  the  growth  of  his  kingdom 
from  the  mustard  which  becomes  tall  enough  for  the  birds 
to  nestle  in  its  branches. 

There  is  great  need  in  these  days  of  cedar  Christians  ; 
for  a  vast  deal  of  brash  and  brittle  timber  finds  its  way  into 
the  Church.     For  want  of  vigorous  inward  Christ-life  these 
stunted  church  members  have  no  spiritual  growth.     There 
is   not  vitalizing  sap  enough    in  one  of   these   professed 
Christians  to  reach  up  into  the  boughs  of  his  outward  con- 
duct—nor strength  enough  in  the  trunk  of  character  to 
stand  up  straight.     There  he  is— j^^st  as  he  was  set  out  in 
the  soil  of  the  Church  years  ago,  no  larger,  no  broader,  and 
no  richer  in  graces  than  he  was  at  the  start,  and  the  cater- 
pillars of  worldliness  have  spun  their  ugly  webs  all  over  his 
branches.    He  is  a  cumberer  of  the  ground— drinking  up 
God's  air  and  sunshine,  and  yet  adding  no  beauty  or  fruit- 
fulness  to  the  cause  which  he  represents  only  to  disfigure  it. 
A  cedar  Christian  not  only  grows,  but  he  grows  in  all 
atmospheres   and    through    all    weathers.      However    the 
wintry    gales    might    rage    over    Lebanon's    stormswept 
heights,  the  "  trees  of  the  Lord  "  toss  the  tempests  from 
their  elastic  bows,   and    stand    as   fast    and    firm    as  the 
everlasting  mountains  underneath  them.     In  the  Church 
of  Jesus  Christ  are  just  such  hardy  specimens  of  godliness 
—storm-proof,  gold-proof,  temptation-proof.     They  never 
bend  and  they  never  break.     They  never  compromise  with 
sin  one  single  ell.     Popular  hurricanes  smite  against  such 
men  :  some'times  when  preaching  plain  truths  that  make 
sinners  gnash  their  teeth  ;  sometimes  denouncing  iniquity 
in  legislative  halls,  as  Adams  and  Sumner  and  Giddings 
did  ;  sometimes  uncovering  sepulchers  of  uncleanness,  as 
Anthony  Comstock  does  ;  sometimes  risking  life   for  the 
cause  of  Christ,  as  Livingstone  did  in  Africa,  and  brave 
old  John  G.  Paton  did  in  the  New  Hebrides.     The  fiber  of 
such  cedars  of  the  Lord  never  bends  or  cracks.     Opposi- 


tion only  makes  their  roots  strike  down  deeper,  and  the 
trunk  of  their  testimony  for  the  truth  stand  firmer. 

It  is  not  the  winds  of  opposition  or  persecution  which 
bring  down  church  members  very  often  in  our  days.  They 
are  in  most  danger  from  secret  influences  and  besetting 
sins  which  gnaw  out  the  heart  of  their  religion.  And  when 
the  community  is  .startled  by  the  defalcation  and  fall  of 
some  prominent  man  in  the  Church  or  the  Sunday  school,  it 
it  is  only  the  crack  of  a  piece  of  timber  that  had  been 
worm-eaten  by  secret  sin  long  before.  Christ's  genuine 
cedars  are  sound  to  the  core.  There  is  a  solidity  in  the 
fiber  of  the  wood  which  not  only  enables  them  to  bear  a 
heavy  strain,  but  will  take  on  the  bright  polish  of  **  the 
beauty  of  holiness."  As  Solomon  built  the  trees  of  Lebanon 
into  the  most  conspicuous  portions  of  the  Temple,  so  Jesus 
Christ  appoints  cedar  Christians  to  be  the  lintels  and  the 
door-posts  and  the  stately  pillars  in  his  spiritual  temple. 

These  are  the  trees  of  the  Lord  whom  grace  has  planted, 
and  whose  "  fruit  shakes  like  Lebanon."  It  is  an  arbor  day 
in  the  Church  when  the  converting  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
creates  such  witness-bearing,  sin-defying  and  bountiful 
fruit  yielding  Christians.  Planted  by  the  rivers  of  water, 
their  leaves  never  wither  ;  they  continue  to  bear  fruit  even 
in  old  age  ;  they  are  always  full  of  sap  and  green.  Death 
is  only  their  transplanting  into  the  realms  of  glory. 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Christian  at  Work, 

Come,  let  us  plant  the  apple  tree  ; 

Cleave  the  tough  green  sward  with  the  spade  : 

Wide  let  its  hollow  bed  be  made  ; 

There  gently  lay  the  roots,  and  there 

Sift  the  dark  mold  with  kindly  care. 

And  press  it  o'er  them  tenderly — 

As  round  the  sleeping  infant's  feet 

We  softly  fold  the  cradle  sheet. 

So  plant  we  the  apple  tree. 

W.  C.  BRYANT. 


36  THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 

What  is  sweeter  than  a  murmur  of  leaves  unless  it  be 
the  musical  gurgling  of  water  that  runs  secretly  and  cuts 
und^  he  roots'  of  the  trees,   and  makes  little  bubbhng 
Jools  that  laugh  to  see  the  drops  stumble  over  the  roo 
and  plump  down  into  its  bosom!     In   such   nooks  could 
trout  lie.     Unless  ye  would  become  mermaids   keep  far 
from  such  places,  all  innocent  grasshoppers  and  all  ebony 
crickets  '     Do  not  believe  in  appearances.     You  peer  over 
and  know  that  there  is  no  danger.     You  can  see  the  radiant 
.ravel      You  know  that  no  enemy  lurks  m  that  fairy  pool 
lou  can  see  every  nook  and  corner  of  it,  and  it  is  as  sweet 
Ibathing  pool   I  ever  was  swam   by  long-legged   grass- 
hoppers      Sver  the  root  comes  a  butterfly  with  both  sails 
a  Erdrabbled,  and   quicker  than    light   he  is   plucked 
Lwn  leavTng  thr  e  or  four  bubbles  behind  him,  fit  emblems 
'ra  buuerfl'y's  life.     There!  did  I   not  tell  you  ?     Nc.v 
go  away  all  maiden   crickets   and   grasshoppers!     These 
Lir  surfaces,  so  pure,  so  crystalline,  so  surely  safe,  have 
a  trout  somewhere  in  them  lying  in  wait  for  you  ! 

^  HENRY  WARD   BEECHER. 

Thoreau,    describing    his  life    and   home   in  Walden 
woods,  said, ''My  best  '  room,'  however,  my  withdrawing 
room,  always  ready  for  company,  on  whose  carpet  the  sun 
rarely  shone,  was  the  pine  wood  behind  my  house.    1  h  ther 
n  summer  days,  when  distinguished  guests  came   I  took 
hem  and  a  priceless  domestic  swept  the  floor  and  dusted 
Se     urniture:  and   kept  things   in  order.      Sometimes  I 
rambled  to  pine  groves,  standing  ^^^e  temples  or  like  fl^^^^^^^^ 
at  sea  full  rigged,  with  wavy  bows,  and  rippling  with  lights, 
^^so^ft  and  See;  and  shady  that  the  Druids  wo^d  have 
forsaken  their  oaks  to  worship  m  them.   .   .   These  were 
the  shrines  I  visited  both  summer  and  winter. 

There  is  a  serene  and  settled  majesty  in  woodland 
scenery  that  enters  the  soul,  and  delights  and  elevates  it, 
and  fills  it  with  noble  inclinations.  i^^^mo. 


ARBOR  DAY, 


37 


WARNINGS   OF    HISTORY. 

from  the  report  of  M.  BLANQUE  to  the  FRENCH 

adademy. 
HON.  WARREN  HIGLEY,  President  American  Forestry  Congress, 
"The  Alps  of   Provence  present  a  terrible  aspect.     In 
the  more  equable  climate  of  northern  France  one  can  form 
no  conception  of  t-hose  parched  mountain  gorges  where  not 
even  a  bush  can  be  found  to  shelter  a  bird,  where  at  most 
the  wanderer  sees  in   summer  here  and  there  a  withered 
lavender,  where  all  the  springs  are  dried  up,  and  where  a 
dead  silence,  hardly  broken  by  the  hum  of  an  insect,  prevails. 
But  if  a  storm  bursts  forth,  masses  of  water  suddenly  shoot 
from  the  mountain  heights  into  the  shattered  gulfs,  waste 
without  irrigating,  deluge  without  refreshing,  the  soil  they 
overflow  in  their  swift  descent,  and  leave   it   even  more 
scarred  than   it  was  from  want  of  moisture.     Man  at  last 
retires  from  the  fearful  desert,  and  I  have  the  present  season 
found  not  a  living  soul  in  districts  where  I  remember  to 
have  enjoyed  hospitality  thirty  years  ago." 

Such  warnings  of  history  are  abundant.     It  is  time  the 
people  of  America  learn  the  sad   history  of  suffering  and 
desolation  that  have  followed  the  destruction  of  the  forests 
in  the  earlier  settled   portions  of  the  earth— in  China  and 
India,  in  Persia  and  Greece,  in  Switzerland,  in  portions  of 
France  and  Italy,  on  the  Istrian  coasts  of  the  Adriatic  and 
the  extensive  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  in  Spain  and  in 
Palestine,  whose  rich   fields,  when   her  rugged   hills  and 
mountain  sides  were  crowned  with  the  sacred  cedar,  **  flowed 
with  milk  and  honey";  in  classic  Sicily,  once  the  granary 
of  Rome,  and  in  many  of  the  most  beautiful  islands  of  the 
sea— that  they  may  heed  the  warning,  study  the  forest  con- 
ditions, and  take  the  necessary  steps  to  prevent  the  useless 
destruction   now  going  on,  and  thereby  escape  the  fate  of 
those  nations  and  communities  that  have  in   the  past  so 
recklessly  made  the  unfortunate  experiment  of  stripping 
the  forests  from  valley  and  hill  and  mountain. 


i.   ; 


38 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 
ASSERTIONS    WARRANTED    BY    FACTS. 


1.  That  the  forest  areas  exercise  a  positive  climatic  in- 
fluence upon  the  surrounding  country.  They  modify  the 
extremes  of  heat  and  cold,  and  render  the  temperature 
more  equable  throughout  the  year. 

2.  That  the  deforesting  of  large  areas  of  hiiiy  and  moun- 
tainous country  affects  to  a  very  large  extent  the  quantity 
of  water  that  comes  from  springs  and  flows  in  rivers.  The 
more  apparent  is  this  when  the  deforesting  occurs  on  the 
head  waters  of  important  streams.  Then  the  water  power 
is  destroyed  or  greatly  impaired,  navigation  impeded,  com- 
merce interfered  with,  and  droughts  and  floods  are  more 
frequent  and  more  severe. 

3.  That  the  interests  of  agriculture  and  horticulture  are 
greatly  subserved  by  the  proper  distribution  of  forest  areas 
through  their  climatic  and  hydrographic  influence. 

4.  That  a  country,  embracing  within  its  borders  the  head 
waters  of  all  the  streams  and  rivers  that  interlace  it,  when 
stripped  of  its  forest  covering  becomes  a  barren  waste, 
incapable  of  supporting  man  or  beast. 

These  general  facts  have  been  determined  beyond 
question. 

FORESTRY    EDUCATION. 

Tree  Planting  on  Arbor  Day  for  economic  purposes  in 
the  great  West  has  given  to  the  prairie  States  many  thou- 
sand acres  of  new  forests,  and  inspired  the  people  with  a 
sense  of  their  great  value,  not  only  for  economic  purposes, 
but  for  climatic  and  meteorological  purposes  as  well.  The 
celebration  of  Arbor  Day  by  the  public  schools  in  several 
of  the  older  States  by  the  planting  of  memorial  trees,  as 
originated  at  Cincinnati  in  the  spring  of  1882,  and  generally 
known  as  the  "  Cincinnati  plan,"  has  done  much  also  to 
awaken  a  widespread  interest  in  the  study  of  trees  ;  and 
this  annual  celebration  promises  to  become  as  general  in 
the  public  schools  and  among  the  people  as  the  observ- 
ance of  May  Day  in  England.     "  Whatever  you  would  have 


I 


I 


T 


ARBOR  DA  V. 


39 


appear  in  the  nation's  life  you  must  introduce  into  the  pub- 
lic schools."  Train  the  youth  into  a  love  for  trees,  instruct 
them  in  the  elements  of  forestry,  and  the  wisdom  of  this 
old  German  proverb  will  be  realized. 


AN  OLD  CUSTOM  REVIVED. 

The  origin  of  Arbor  Day  is  attributed  to  the  State  of 
Nebraska.  But  in  an  old  Swiss  chronicle  it  is  related  that 
away  back  in  the  fifth  century  the  people  of  a  little  Swiss 
town  called  Brugg  assembled  in  council  and  resolved  to 
plant  a  forest  of  oak  trees  on  the  common.  The  first 
rainy  day  thereafter  the  citizens  began  their  work.  They 
dug  holes  in  the  ground  with  canes  and  sticks  and  dropped 
an  acorn  into  each  hole,  trampling  the  dirt  over  them. 
Upward  of  twelve  sacks  were  sown  in  this  way,  and  after 
the  work  was  done  each  citizen  received  a  wheaten  roll  as 
a  reward. 

"  Great  oaks  from  little  acorns  grow,"  it  is  said,  but  for 
some  reason  the  work  was  all  in  vain,  for  the  seeds  never 
came  up.  Perhaps  the  acorns  were  laid  too  deep,  or  it 
might  have  been  the  trampling  of  so  many  feet  had  packed 
the  earth  too  firmly.  Whatever  the  cause  the  acorns 
refused  to  sprout,  and  the  townspeople  sowed  the  same 
ground  with  rye  and  oats,  and  after  the  harvest  they  tried 
the  acorn  planting  again — this  time  in  another  way — by 
plowing  the  soil  and  sowing  the  acorns  in  the  furrows. 
But  again  the  "  great  oaks  "  refused  to  grow  ;  grass  came 
up  instead,  and  the  people  were  disappointed.  But  an  oak 
grove  they  were  determined  to  have,  so  after  this  second 
failure  a  few  wise  men  put  their  heads  together  and  decided 
to  gain  the  desired  result  by  transplanting.  A  day  was 
appointed  (in  October),  and  the  whole  community,  men, 
women,  and  children,  marched  to  the  woods,  dug  up  an 
oak  sapling,  and  transplanted  it  on  the  common.  At  the 
close  of  the  exercises  each  girl  and  boy  was  presented  with 


?.M'<''.'*«u'T«i  ■'■-  ': 


■"^  ti;  »•'  .tMwM.t-'^-.-vgajai^.varftj^fct. 


40 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


a  roll,  and  in  the  evening  the  grown  people  had  a  merry 
feast  in  the  town  hall. 

This  time  the  trees  grew,  the  people  of  Brugg  were 
pleased  and  satisfied,  and  instituted  the  day  of  tree  plant- 
ing as  a  yearly  holiday.  Every  year  as  the  day  came  round 
the  children  formed  in  line  and  marched  to  the  oak  grove, 
bringing  back  twigs  or  switches,  thus  proving  that  the  oaks 
were  thriving,  and  every  year  at  the  close  of  the  parade  the 
rolls  were  distributed  to  be  eaten  in  remembrance  of  the 
day.  This  festival  still  exists  and  is  known  as  "  The 
Switch  Parade  "  ;  our  **  Arbor  Day  "  is  only  an  old  custom 

revived. 

Christian  at  Work, 


ARBOR  DAY  FOR  THE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 

Why  not  the  Sunday  school  as  well  as  the  day  school? 

There  are  church  and  Sunday-school  buildings  by  the 
thousands  whose  unpicturesque  exteriors  need  an  ivy  cloth- 
ing, and  there  are  churchyards  and  grounds  that  should 
be  "  laid  out  "  on  paper,  and  then,  by  a  plan  agreed  upon, 
should  be  planted  with  trees  and  shrubbery,  if  the  church 
is  to  be  an  attractive  place. 

If  the  children,  as  day-school  scholars,  have  enough  pub- 
lic spirit  to  enjoy  sharing  the  ceremonies  of  an  Arbor  Day 
appointed  by  the  Governor  of  their  State,  and  if  they  gladly 
beautify,  not  only  their  own  door-yards,  but  the  public 
parks,  the  village  common,  and  even  the  roadsides,  an 
appeal  to  them,  as  Sunday  school  children,  to  beautify  the 
surroundings  of  their  own  home  church,  ought  to  meet  the 
heartiest  kind  of  a  response.  Perhaps,  also,  there  will  be 
the  grounds  of  the  rectory,  or  parsonage,  which  the  Sunday 
school  will  have  peculiar  interest  in  adorning.  Nor  would 
it  be  difficult  for  a  missionary  spirit  to  show  attention  of 
this  kind  to  other  people  in  the  congregation,  or  to  neigh- 
boring charitable  institutions  and  homes. 

Sunday  School  Times. 


'^'"•*"fa^«-^«4rt<iilgMr 


ARBOR  DAY. 


41 


ARBOR  DAY,  THE  CHILDREN'S  HOLIDAY. 

BY  JOHN   LAIRD   WILSON. 

Arbor  Day  as  now  fairly  established,  as  an  annual  insti- 
tution among  us,  works  a  sort  of  revolution  in  American 
taste,  and  in  fact  in  American  life.  Time  was— and  that 
not  so  long  ago— when  trees  were  looked  upon  as  a  species 
of  public  enemy,  and  when  it  was  regarded  as  one  of 
man's  most  important  duties  to  fell  them  and  remove  them 

out  of  the  way. 

The  history  of  civilized  man  on  the  northern  part  of 
this  continent  has  been  the  history  of  a  continuous,  almost 
uninterrupted,  struggle  with  nature  ;  and  the  forest  has 
been  a  most  pronounced  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  advance- 
ment of  the  American  man.  In  all  the  New  England  States, 
in  the  old  South  and  in  the  earlier  Canadian  settlements, 
the  civilized  man  found  a  home  and  farm  grounds  only  by 
effecting  clearances  in  the  woods  :  and  these  clearances 
were  the  less  easily  made  that  the  means  at  command  for 
the  accomplishment  of  such  work  were  extremely  limited. 
Trees  were,  therefore,  voted  a  nuisance  ;  and  the  work  of 
cutting  them  down  was  stimulated  by  the  uses  to  which  the 
felled  trees  were  put.  In  the  absence  of  coal,  wood  was 
useful  for  fuel  ;  and  it  was  a  double  advantage  to  have  not 
only  fields,  but  fields  provided  with  suitable  fences. 

Arbor  Day  has  brought  about  a  revolution  in  American 
taste.  From  tree  destroying  we  have  come  back  to  tree 
planting.  The  revolution,  it  is  to  be  noted,  has  taken 
a  very  practical  and  promisingly  enduring  shape.  It  has 
won  the  approval  of  the  governments  of  most  of  our  States 
—in  the  State  of  New  York  it  has  assumed  the  character 
of  a  school  holidiiy.  The  special  work  done  on  that  day 
is  the  planting  of  trees  in  some  suitable  place  or  places  by 
the  children.  The  revolution  is  therefore  radical.  Arbori- 
culture is  thus  made  an  element  of  juvenile  training.  It  is 
expected,  as  it  is  intended,  that  the  exercises  of  the  day 
will  have  a  wholesome  effect  upon  the  minds  as  well  as 


ii^iiiiHtfM 


42 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASIOI^. 


upon  the  bodies  of  the  children.  It  was  Agassiz  who  said 
*'  Children  are  born  naturalists."  Arbor  Day  will  test  the 
truth  of  this  saying.  Its  exercises  will  bring  them  into 
close  and  pleasing  contact  with  nature,  and  they  will  see 
her  putting  on  her  fresh  green  gown. 

We  might  speak  of  the  benefit  which  could  hardly  fail  to 
result  from  tree  planting  on  our  extensive  prairies,  as  well 
as  of  the  beauty  and  comfort  which  might  be  secured  by 
the  more  liberal  growth  of  shade  trees  in  the  streets  of 
some  of  our  cities  ;  and  also  of  the  custom  of  tree  plant- 
ing and  its  meaning  in  different  ages  and  among  different 
peoples. 

Arbor  Day  is,  in  a  special  sense,  the  school  children's 
day.  If  our  young  people  grow  up  with  a  proper  apprecia- 
tion  of  trees,  their  beauties  and  their  uses,  we  may  safely 
trust  to  the  future  for  developments  in  wise  and  wholesome 
directions. 

Christian  at  Work. 


Among  the  Indians  of  Brazil  there  is  a  tradition  that  the 
whole  human  race  sprang  from  a  palm  tree.  It  has  been 
a  symbol  of  excellence  for  things  good  and  beautiful. 
Among  the  ancients  it  was  an  emblem  of  victory,  and  as 
such  was  worn  by  the  early  Christian  martyrs,  and  has  been 
found  sculptured  on  their  tombs.  The  Mohammedans 
venerate  it.  Certain  trees,  said  to  have  been  propagated 
from  some  originally  planted  by  the  prophet's  daughter,  are 
held  sacred,  and  the  fruit  sold  at  enormous  prices.  The 
day  upon  which  Christ  entered  Jerusalem  riding  upon  the 
colt  of  an  ass  is  called  Palm  Sunday,  being  the  first  day  of 
Holy  Week.  In  Europe  real  palm  branches  are  distributed 
among  the  people.     Goethe  says  : 

In  Rome  on  Palm  Sunday 

They  have  the  true  palms, 
The  cardinals  bow  reverently 

And  sing  old  psalms. 


ARBOR  DAY. 


43 


HISTORY    OF   TREES. 

BY   WILLIAM   ABBATT. 

If  we  look  into  the  history  of  trees  we  shall  find  them 
used   as   symbols    of   strength,  beauty,  and   grandeur  by 
countless  writers  since  the  days  of  Moses.     It  is  singular 
that  all  painters  who  have  represented  the  scenes  in  the 
Garden  of  Eden  hcive  agreed  in  making  the  tree  of  for- 
bidden fruit  an  apple  tree,  though  critics  have  pointed  out 
that  this  is  entirely  without  warrant.     To  enumerate  all  the 
Biblical    references   to  trees   would   require   considerable 
space.      In    that   graphic   passage   in   the   eighteenth   of 
Genesis  where  Abraham  entertains  the  three  angels,  the 
tree  under  which  he  asks  them  to  rest  was  probably  an 
oak,  as  such  abound  still  in  the  region,  and  Dr.  Edward 
Robinson  says  :  **  For  many  ages  after  Christ  a  tree  of  this 
kind  near  Hebron  was  superstitiously  venerated  as  one  of 
those   under   which    Abraham    dwelt    at    Mamre."     The 
Psalms  are  full  of  references  to  the  cedar,  which  was  the 
favorite  wood  for  interior  finish,  and  largely  used  in  the 
construction  of  the  Temple.     Ezekiel's  description  of  the 
Assyrian  :  "  The  Assyrian  was  as  a  cedar  in  Lebanon  with 
fair  branches,  and  with  a  shadowing  shroud,  and  of  a  high 
stature,  and  his  top  was  among  the  thick  boughs.  .  .  The 
cedars  in  the  garden  of  God  could  not  hide  him  ;  the  fir 
trees  were  not  like  his  boughs,  and  the  chestnut  trees  not 
like  his  branches  ;  nor  any  tree  in  the  garden  of  God  was 
like  unto  him  in  his  beauty  ";   and  Lamartine's  description 
of   the  cedars   of  Lebanon   when  he  saw  them  in   1832: 
**  These  trees  are  the  most  renowned  natural  monuments  in 
the  universe.    Religion,  poetry,  and  history  have  all  equally 
consecrated  them.     What  spot  can  we   imagine  grander, 
more  majestic,  or  more  holy  than  is  afforded  by  the  top- 
most platform  of  Lebanon,  on  which  stand  the  trunks  of 
these  cedars?" — remind  us  that  some  travelers  claim  that 
the  traveler  of  to-day  may  see  the   same  trees  that  the 
prophet  did.     The  sycamore  has  its  place  in  Holy  Writ,  for 


44 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION. 


was  not  the  prophet  Amos  a  gatherer  of  its  fruit,  and  did 
not  Zaccheus  climb  up  into  its  branches  to  see  the  Saviour 
pass  ?  The  reference  to  the  olive  and  fig  tree  need  not  be 
more  than  mentioned  here.  Returning  to  the  modern 
world,  we  find  one  of  Scott's  contemporaries  thus  express- 
ing himself :  "  The  man  who  loves  not  to  look  at  them, 
to  lie  under  them,  to  climb  up  them  (once  more  a  school- 
boy), would  make  no  bones  of  murder."  In  what  one 
imaginable  attribute  that  it  ought  to  possess,  is  a  tree 
deficient  ? — height,  shade,  shelter,  coolness,  freshness, 
music — all  the  colors  of  the  rainbow  ;  dew  and  dreams 
dropping  through  their  soft  twilight  at  eve  and  noon — 
dropping  direct,  soft,  sweet,  soothing  restorative  from 
Heaven.  Without  trees  how  could  we  have  had  houses, 
ships,  bridges,  easy  chairs,  or  almost  any  single  one  of  the 
necessaries,  comforts,  or  conveniences  of  life  ?  Without 
trees  one  man  might  have  **been  born  with  a  silver  spoon 
in  his  mouth,"  but  not  **  another  with  a  wooden  ladle."  So 
wrote  Christopher  North  (Tennyson's  "  Crusty  Chris- 
topher") more  than  half  a  century  ago. 

We  look  to  the  poets  for  the  most  compact,  the  most 
forcible,  and  the  most  enduring  descriptions  of  trees — and 
we  find  them  in  innumerable  profusion — so  many  that  we 
can  make  room  for  but  a  few.     As,  Milton's 

His  spear,  to  equal  which  the  tallest  pine 
Hewn  on  Norwegian  hills,  to  be  the  mast 
Of  some  great  admiral,  were  but  a  wand. 

Shakespeare  abounds  in  allusions  to  trees,  and  there  is 
nothing  sweeter  among  the  many  sweet  songs  scattered 
through  his  plays  than  the  one  beginning  : 

Under  the  greenwood  tree. 
Who  loves  to  lie  with  me 
And  tune  his  merry  note 
Unto  the  sweet  bird's  throat  ? 

And  then  as  one  dwells  upon  this  subject,  what  a  multi- 
tude of  songs  and  hymns  and  odes  and  dainty  conceits  of 


ARBOR  DAY. 


45 


verse  start  up  in  the  memory  !  There  are  Mrs.  Hemans* 
<'  Orchard  Blossoms,"  Lowell's  ''  Under  the  Willows," 
Tennyson's  **  Talking  Oak,"  Longfellow's  "  Voices  of  the 
Forest,"  Higginson's  **  Autumn  Leaves,"  and  noblest  of 
all,  Bryant's  "  Forest  Hymn  "  : 

The  groves  were  God's  first  temples.     Ere  man  learned 

To  hew  the  shaft  or  lay  the  architrave, 

And  spread  the  roof  above  them — ere  he  framed 

The  lofty  vault  together  and  roll  back 

The  sound  of  anthems— in  the  darkling  wood, 

Amid  the  darkling  wood, 

Amid  the  cool  and  silence  he  knelt  down 

And  offered  to  the  Mightiest  solemn  thanks 

And  supplication. 


ARBOR   DAY— THE    OBJECT  TO  BE    ATTAINED. 

The  Hon.  Andrew  S.  Draper,  late  Superintendent  of 
Instruction  in  New  York  State,  now  of  Cleveland,  O.,  in 
the  Journal  of  Education,  says  :  "  The  great  object  to  be 
attained  through  the  observance  of  Arbor  Day  is  the  culti- 
vation of  a  love  for  nature  atnong  children,  with  the  confident 
expectation  that  thereby  the  needless  destruction  of  the  for- 
ests will  be  stayed,  and  the  improvement  of  grounds  about 
school  buildings  and  residences  will  be  promoted.  Prepara- 
tion for  such  observance  should  therefore  be  made  with  these 
things  in  view.  The  love  of  nature  is  a  growth.  It  may  be 
aroused  and  cultivated.  It  is  properly  and  legitimately  a 
part  of  the  work  of  the  schools  to  do  this.  Indeed  it  is  a 
great  wrong  to  fail  to  do  it,  for  nothing  can  add  more  to  the 
enjoyment  of  life,  or  render  a  human  life  of  larger  advantage 
to  all  about  it.  From  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  school 
course,  all  the  wonderful  processes  of  nature,  and  particu- 
larly the  development  of  vegetable  and  animal  life,  should 
have  close  attention.  The  life  of  the  teacher  should  be 
keyed  to  these  things,  and  she  should  be  provided  with  such 
helps  and  devices,  and  given  sufficient  time  to  secure  for 
them  a  lodging  place  in  the  lives  around  her.     So  much 


46 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


being  done  in  the  schools,  the  children  will  observe  and 
study  natural  objects.  And  when  the  springtime  comes,  and 
all  nature  is  bursting  into  a  new  life,  if  the  teacher  can  go 
with  the  children  to  the  fields  and  the  woods,  after  the  Ger- 
man custom,  and  as  a  part  of  the  school  work,  and  there 
study  the  grasses,  and  the  flowers,  and  the  trees,  and  the 
birds,  the  outing  and  the  object  lesson  will  render  the  work 
of  the  schoolroom  very  much  more  effective.  The  children 
will  not  only  gain  a  new  interest  and  pleasure  which  can 
never  be  taken  from  them,  but  they  will  also  wonder  and 
think  of  the  mighty  power  that  is  behind  all  these  things, 
and  they  will  reverence  and  love  the  God  of  nature." 


THE  AGE  AND  GROWTH  OF  TREES. 

CHARLES    R.    SKINNER. 

Man  counts  his  life  by  years  ;  the  oak  by  centuries.  At 
one  hundred  years  of  age  the  tree  is  but  a  sapling  ;  at  five 
hundred  it  is  mature  and  strong  ;  at  six  hundred  the 
gigantic  king  of  the  greenwood  begins  to  feel  the  touch  of 
time  ;  but  the  decline  is  as  slow  as  the  growth  was,  and  the 
sturdy  old  tree  rears  its  proud  head  and  reckons  centuries 
of  old  age  just  as  it  reckons  centuries  of  youth. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  patriarchs  of  the  forest  laugh  at 
history.  Is  it  not  true  ?  Perhaps  when  the  balmy  zephyrs 
stir  the  trees,  the  leaves  whisper  strange  stories  to  one 
another.  The  oaks  and  pines,  and  their  brethren  of  the 
wood,  have  seen  so  many  suns  rise  and  set,  so  many  seasons 
come  and  go,  and  so  many  generations  pass  into  silence, 
that  we  may  well  wonder  what  the  "  story  of  the  trees  " 
would  be  to  us  if  they  had  tongues  to  tell  it,  or  we  ears  fine 
enough  to  understand. 

"The  king  of  white  oak  trees,"  says  a  letter  writer,  "in 
this  good  year  1883  has  been  chopped  down  and  taken  to 
the  sawmill.  It  was  five  hundred  and  twenty-five  years 
old,  and  made  six  twelve-foot  logs,  the  first  one  being  six 
feet  in  diameter  and  weighing  seven  tons."     What  a  giant 


ARBOR  DAY. 


47 


that  Ohio  oak  tree  must  have  been,  and  what  changes  in 
this  land  of  ours  it  must  have  witnessed  !  It  looked  upon 
the  forest  when  the  red  man  ruled  there  alone  ;  it  was  more 
than  a  century  old  when  Columbus  landed  in  the  New 
World  ;  and  to  that  good  age  added  nearly  four  centuries 
before  the  ax  of  the  woodman  laid  it  low. 

Yet,  venerable  as  this  "king  of  the  white  oak  trees" 
was,  it  was  but  an  infant  compared  with  other  monarchs  of 
the  Western  solitudes.  One  California  pine,  cut  down  about 
1855,  was,  according  to  very  good  authority,  eleven  hun- 
dred and  twenty  years  old  ;  and  many  of  its  neighbors  in 
its  native  grove  are  no  less  ancient  than  it  was.  Who  shall 
presume,  then,  to  fix  the  age  of  the  hoary  trees  that  still 
rear  their  stalwart  frames  in  the  unexplored  depths  of  the 
American  wilderness  ? 

There  is  a  famous  yew  that  must  not  go  without  notice 
in  our  record  of  ancient  trees.  This  venerable  tree  stands 
in  its  native  field,  ever  green  and  enduring,  as  if  the  years 
had  forgotten  it.  Yet,  it  was  two  centuries  old  when  in 
the  adjacent  meadow  King  John  signed  Magna  Charta. 
If  we  bear  in  mind  that  in  12 15  the  stout  English  barons 
compelled  their  wicked  king  to  sign  the  Great  Charter  pro- 
tecting the  rights  of  his  subjects,  we  may  conclude  that  this 
patriarch  yew  is  at  least  eight  hundred  and  fifty  years  old. 

On  the  mountains  of  Lebanon  a  few  of  the  cedars  famous 
in  sacred  and  in  profane  history  yet  remain.  One  of  these 
relics  of  the  past  has  been  estimated  to  be  three  thousand 
five  hundred  years  old.  The  patriarch  of  the  English 
forests  cannot,  then,  so  far  as  age  is  considered,  claim 
equal  rank  with  the  "  cedars  of  Lebanon."  But  the 
baobab,  or  "monkey-bread,"  of  Senegal  must  take  the 
first  rank  among  long-lived  trees.  Even  the  "goodly 
trees  "  of  Lebanon  must,  if  ordinary  proofs  can  be  trusted, 
yield  the  palm  to  their  African  rival. 

An  eminent  French  botanist  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
whose  discoveries  in  natural  history  are  of  great  interest 
to  the  world  of  science,  lived  some  years  in  Senegal,  and 


48 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


had  ample  opportunity  to  observe  and  study  the  wonderful 

baobab.     He  saw  several  trees  of  this  species  growing,  and 

from  the  most  careful  calculations  he   formed  his  opinion 

as  to  the   age  of  some  of  these  African  wonders.     One 

baobab,  which   even    in  its  decay  measured  one  hundred 

and  nine  feet  in  circumference,  he  believed  to  be  more 

than  five  thousand  years  old.      Truly,  the  patriarchs  of 

the  forest  laugh  at  history. 

Arbor  Day  Manual. 


OBSERVATION  ON  TREE  GROWTH. 

An  interesting  observation  on  tree  rings  is  recorded  by 

Professor  Bachelant.     During  a  visit  to  the  ruins  of  Pal- 

enque,  Mexico,  in   1859,  M.  Charnay  caused  all  the   trees 

that  hid  the  facade  of  one  of  the  pyramids  of  the  palace  to 

be  cut  down.     On  a  second  visit  in  1880  he  cut  the  trees  that 

had  grown  since  1859,  and  he  remarked  that  all  of  them 

had  a  number  of  circles  greatly  more  numerous  than  their 

age  would  warrant,  supposing  one  circle  only  to  be   added 

annually.      The  oldest  could  only  have  been  twenty-two 

years  of  age,  but  on  a  section  of  one  of  them  he  counted 

250  circles.     The  tree  was  about  two  feet  in  diameter.     A 

shrub  not  more  than  eighteen  months  old  had  eighteen  con- 

centric  circles.     M.  Charnay  found  the   case   repeated   in 

every  species  and  in  trees  of  all  sizes.     He  concluded  that 

in  hot  and   moist  climates,  where  nature   is  never  at  rest, 

trees  may  produce,  not  one  circle   in  a  year,  but  one  in   a 

month.     The  age  of  a  monument  has  often  been  calculated 

from  that  of   trees   that  have  grown  on    its   ruins.      For 

Palenque  1700  years  had  been  calculated,  1700  rings  having 

been   counted  on    a  tree.      These  observations,  however, 

require  the  number  to  be  cut  down  to  150  or   200  years. 

Professor  Bachelant  asks  if  M.  Charnay  took  account  of 

certain  colored  rings  which  some  tropical  trees  present  in 

cross  section,  and  which  are  to  be  distinguished  from  the 

annual  circles. 

The  Garden. 


ARBOR  DAY. 


49 


THE  POETRY  OF   TREES. 

Shakespeare,  with  his  unerring  grasp  of  the  finest  and 
most  significant  figures,  makes,  naturally,  great  use  of  the 
tree  in  his  illustrations  ;  from  that  which  falls  -  with  its 
blushing  honors  thick  upon  it,"  to  the  incomparable  sight 
which  preceded  Macbeth's  fall,  that  Birnam  wood  which 
marched  bodily  to  Dunsinane. 

Roderick  Dhu's  inspiring  song  to  the  -Evergreen 
Pine  "  and  Edmund's  "  Greta  woods  are  green  "  are  known 
to  all  schoolboys.  It  is  said  that  every  kind  of  tree  that 
grows  in  Scotland,  and  some  of  them  many  times  over,  are 
mentioned  in  Scott's  poems. 

Gray,  in  his  matchless  *'  Elegy  "  adds  immeasurably  to 
its  descriptive  force  when  he  speaks  in  one  of  the  early 
stanzas  of  -  those  rugged  elms,  that  yew-tree's  shade^ 
His  mention  of  "  the  favorite  tree  "  of  the  dead  man,  adds 
a  pathetic  touch  to  the  picture,  as  also  does  that  of  the 
*'  stone  beneath  the  aged  thorn." 

Oh,  pause  and  think  for  a  moment 
What  a  desolate  land  'twould  be, 

If  east  or  west  the  eye  should  rest 
On  not  a  single  tree  ! 

Wordsworth  revels-if  that  sober  poet  can  be  said  to 
do  so  wild  and  daring  a  thing  as  revel-in  allusions  to  and 
descriptions  of  trees. 

One  of  the  most  expressive  lines  in  Coleridge's  grand 
"  Hymn  in  the  Vale  of  Chamouni"  is  that  in  which  he  calls 

"  Ye  pine  groves,  with  your  soft  and  soul-like  sounds  ! 

Robert  Browning  seldom  speaks  of  trees.  Humanity, 
with  all  its  passions,  hopes,  and  fears,  loomed  up  too 
tremendously  before  him  to  allow  him  much  space  for  the 


so 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


inanimate.  The  cypress  "  that  points  like  death's  lean, 
lifted  forefinger"  appeals  to  him,  however,  and  when  his 
homesick  thought  strays  to  England,  he  dwells  tenderly 
upon  her  '*  elm-tree  boles"  in  *'tiny  leaf,"  and  "my  blos- 
somed pear  tree  in  the  hedge." 

Mrs.  Browning  is  altogether  different.  It  might  almost 
be  said  that  there  is  scarcely  a  page  of  her  writings  in 
which  her  instinctive  love  for  trees  does  not  find  expression, 
though  it  is  doubtful  whether  she  is  conscious  of  it.  Per- 
haps the  most  permanent  impression  after  reading  *'  Isobel's 
Child"  is  that  of  "the  seven  tall  poplars  on  the  hill"  and 
those  "  beechen  alleys."  One  of  her  most  beautiful  stanzas 
is  that  one  in  "An  Island,"  in  which  the  place  is  described 
as 

.    .     .        all  a-wave  with  trees. 
Limes,  myrtles  purple-beaded ; 

Acacias  having  drunk  the  lees 
Of  the  night-dew,  faint  headed ; 

And  wan,  gray  olive-woods,  which  seem 

The  fittest  foliage  for  a  dream. 

But  Tennyson,  whose  love  of  nature  amounted  to  a  pas- 
sion, is  the  truest  poet  of  the  trees.  His  whole  being 
seemed  to  thrill  with  the  mountain  when  it  "  stirred  its 
bushy  crown  "  ;  when  he  heard  the  "  copses  ring  "  ;  and 
when  he  listened  to 

The  low  love  language  of  the  bird 
In  native  hazels  tassel-hung. 

It  is  he  alone  of  all  the  poets  who  has  marked  the  "black 
ash  buds  in  the  front  of  March,"  and  the  fruit  of  the 
spindle  tree  "  which  in  our  winter  woodlands  looks  a 
flower."  It  is  he  who  dwells  with  joy  upon  the  time  when 
"  rosy  plumelets  tuft  the  larch,"  and  upon  that  silence 
in  which  the  sympathetic  "  slender  acacia  " 

.   .   .   would  not  shake 

One  long  milk-bloom  on  the  tree. 


ARBOR  DAY, 


51 


One  of  the  saddest  stanzas  in-"  In  Memoriam  "  is  that  in 
which  he  mournfully  foresees  that  his  grief  will  dull  in  him 
his  delight  in  following  the  changes  of  nature  : 

Unwatched,  the  garden  bough  shall  sway. 
The  tender  blossom  flutter  down, 
Unloved,  the  beech  will  gather  brown, 

The  maple  burn  itself  away. 

Among  our  own  poets,  Whittier  and  Longfellow  have 
given  us  profuse  proof  of  their  love  of  trees.  The  opening 
lines  of  "  Evangeline  "  are  perhaps  more  familiar  than  any 
others  that  Longfellow  has  written,  and  they  are  a  picture, 
in  words,  of  the  forest ;  while  in  "  Hiawatha  "  he  dwells 
lovingly  upon  "  the  lightness  of  the  birch  tree,"  "  the  tough- 
ness of  the  cedar,"  and  "  the  larch's  supple  sinews." 

One  of  Bayard  Taylor's  finest  compositions  is  the  pas- 
sionate address,  which  he  puts  into  the  mouth  of  the  Arab, 
to  his  beloved  palm  tree. 

Thomas  Starr  King  was  a  true  lover  of  the  forest,  and 
thus  translates  its  varied  language,  which  is  as  really 
poetry  as  though  it  had  been  set  to  meter  :  *'  The  oak 
roars  when  a  high  wind  wrestles  with  it ;  the  beech  shrieks  ; 
the  elm  sends  forth  a  long,  deep  groan  ;  the  ash  pours  out 
moans  of  thrilling  anguish." 

The  single  poem  of  George  P.  Morris,  beginnmg"  Wood- 
man, spare  that  tree  "—a  distant  echo,  though  probably  no 
plagiarism,  of  Campbell's  "Spare,  woodman,  spare  the 
beechen  tree  !  "—is  considered  to  have  done  more  toward 
developing  the  proper  love  and  veneration  for  trees  than 
any  other  single  influence. 

Who  can  ever  see  apple  trees  planted  without  thinkmg 
of  Bryant's  beautiful  lines  upon  that  subject?  In  his 
"Forest  Hymn"  and  in  "  Thanatopsis"  the  very  spirit  of 
the  woods  is  embalmed.  Whittier,  Lowell,  and  Bryant 
have  all  of  them  most  beautifully  described  the  woods  m 
winter.  To  many,  the  majestic  figure  of  a  tree  is  most 
suggestive  and  impressive  when  it  is  stripped  of  its  foliage, 


52 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


and  its  boughs,  bare  or  laden  with  snow,  reveal  all  the 
strength  and  aspiration  of  its  soul. 

The  lyrics  of  our  youth  abound  in  trees,  from  **  Thy 
mother  is  shaking  the  dreamland  tree  "  to  ^'  A  song  for  the 
oak,  the  brave  old  oak,"  or  the  Christmas  ballads  of  the 
hemlock  and  the  holly  and 

I  wish  I  were  an  elm  tree, 

A  great  lofty  elm  tree  with  green  leaves  gay. 

The  "boy  who  went  fishing  with  dad  "  sits  forever  in  our 
memories  under  his  oak  tree,  pole  in  hand  ;  and  Ben  Bolt 
will  always  lie  '^  under  the  hickory  tree  which  stood  at  the 
foot  of  the  hill,"  not  far  away  from  that  historic  ''  button- 
ball  tree  with  its  motley  limbs." 

C/iristian  at  Work. 

Should  you  ask  me,  whence  these  stories } 

Whence  these  legends  and  traditions, 

With  the  odors  of  the  forest. 

With  the  damp  and  dew  of  m.eadows, 

AVith  the  curling  smoke  of  wigwams. 

With  the  rushing  of  great  rivers. 

With  their  frequent  repetitions, 

And  their  wild  reverberations, 

As  of  thunder  on  the  mountains  ? 

I  should  answer,  I  should  tell  you 

From  the  forests  and  the  prairies. 

H.  W.  LONGFELLOW. 

The  willow's  whistling  lashes  wrung 

By  the  wild  winds  of  gusty  March, 
With  sallow  leaflets  lightly  strung 

Are  swaying  by  the  tufted  larch. 
The  elms  have  robed  their  slender  spray 

With  full-blown  flower  and  embryo  leaf  ; 
Wide  o'er  the  clasping  arch  of  day 

Soars  like  a  cloud  their  hoary  chief. 

O.    W.    HOLMES. 


ARBOR  DAY. 


53 


'Tis  merry  in  greenwood — thus  runs  the  old  lay — 
In  the  gladsome  month  of  lively  May, 
When  the  wild  birds'  song  on  stem  and  spray 

Invites  to  forest  bower. 
Then  rears  the  ash  his  airy  crest. 
Then  shines  the  birch  in  silver  vest, 
And  the  beech  in  glistening  leaves  is  drest. 
And  dark  between  shows  the  oak's  proud  breast 

Like  a  chieftain's  frowning  tower. 

SIR    WALTER   SCOTT. 

O  HEMLOCK  tree  !     O  hemlock  tree  !  how  faithful  are  thy 

branches  ! 
Green  not  alone  in  summer  time. 
But  in  the  winter's  frost  and  rime  ! 
O  hemlock  tree  !     O  hemlock  tree  !  how  faithful  are  thy 

branches  ! 

H.  W.    LONGFELLOW. 

Let  lofty  firs,  and  ashes  cool. 

My  lowly  banks  o'erspread. 
And  view,  deep  bending  in  the  pool, 

Their  shadows'  watery  bed  ! 
Let  fragrant  birks  in  woodbine  drest 

My  craggy  cliffs  adorn  ; 
And,  for  the  little  songster's  nest, 

The  close-embowering  thorn. 

BURNS. 


HISTORIC   TREES. 

An  Exercise  for  Arbor  Day,  by  Eight  Scholars. 

ada  simpson  sherwood. 

I. — Charter  Oak. 

In  history  we  often  see 

The  record  of  a  noted  tree. 

We'll  now  some  history  pages  turn 

And  note  what  trees  we  there  discern. 


54  THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 

And  foremost  of  this  famous  band 
We  think  the  Charter  Oak  should  stand. 
We  love  to  read  the  story  o'er 
How  Andrus  came  from  England's  shore 
As  governor  in  this  new  land, 
And  ruled  it  with  a  tyrant  hand  ; 
How,  when  he  came  to  Hartford  town, 
Demanding  with  a  haughty  frown 
The  charter  of  the  people's  rights, 
All  suddenly  out  went  the  lights, 
And,  e'er  again  they  reappeared. 
The  charter  to  their  hearts  endeared 
Lay  safely  in  this  hollow  tree, 
Guard  of  the  people's  liberty. 
All  honor  then  to  Wadsworth's  name, 
Who  gave  to  Charter  Oak  its  fame. 

n. — Liberty  Elm. 

Another  very  famous  tree 
Was  called  the  Elm  of  Liberty. 
Beneath  its  shade  the  patriots  bold 
For  tyranny  their  hatred  told. 
Upon  its  branches  high  and  free 
Was  often  hung  in  effigy 
Such  persons  as  the  patriots  thought 
Opposed  the  freedom  that  they  sought. 
In  war  time,  oft  beneath  this  tree 
The  people  prayed  for  victory  ; 
And  when  at  last  the  old  tree  fell 
There  sadly  rang  each  Boston  bell. 

in.— Washington's  Elm. 

In  Cambridge  there  is  standing  yet 

A  tree  we  never  should  forget. 

For  here,  equipped  with  sword  and  gun. 

There  stood  our  honored  Washington, 

When  of  the  little  patriot  band 

For  freedom's  cause  he  took  command. 


ARBOR  DAY. 

Despite  its  age — three  hundred  years — 

Its  lofty  head  it  still  uprears  ; 

Its  mighty  arms  extending  wide, 

It  stands  our  country's  boasted  pride. 

IV. — Burgoyne's  Elm. 

When,  in  spite  of  pride,  pomp,  and  boast, 

Burgoyne  surrendered  with  his  host, 

And  then  was  brought  to  Albany 

A  prisoner  of  war  to  be. 

In  gratitude  for  his  defeat, 

That  day,  upon  the  city  street. 

An  elm  was  planted,  which  they  say 

Still  stands  in  memory  of  that  day. 

v.— The  Treaty  Elm. 

Within  the  Quaker  City's  realm 
There  stood  the  famous  Treaty  Elm. 
Here,  with  its  sheltering  boughs  above, 
Good  William  Penn  in  peace  and  love 
The  Indians  met,  and  there  agreed 
Upon  that  treaty  which,  we  read. 
Was  never  broken,  though  no  oath 
Was  taken — justice  guiding  both. 
A  monument  now  marks  the  ground 
Where  once  this  honored  tree  was  found. 

VI. — Tree  from  Napoleon's  Grave. 
Within  a  city  of  the  dead 
Near  Bunker  Hill,  just  at  the  head 
Of  Cotton  Mather's  grave,  there  stands 
A  weeping  willow,  which  fond  hands 
Brought  from  Napoleon's  grave,  they  say, 
In  St.  Helena  far  away. 

VIII.— The  Gary  Tree. 

I'll  tell  you  of  a  sycamore. 

And  how  two  poets'  names  it  bore. 


55 


56  THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 

Upon  Ohio's  soil  it  stands. 
'Twas  placed  there  by  the  childish  hands 
Of  sister  poets,  and  is  known 
As  Alice  and  Phoebe  Gary's  own. 
One  day,  when  little  girls,  they  found 
A  sapling  lying  on  the  ground. 
They  planted  it  with  tenderest  care 
Beside  this  pleasant  highway,  where 
It  grew  and  thrived  and  came  to  be 
To  all  around,  the  Cary  Tree, 

VIII. — Hamilton  Trees. 

In  New  York  City  proudly  stand 
Thirteen  monarchs,  lofty,  grand. 
Their  branches  tow'ring  toward  the  sun 
Are  monuments  of  Hamilton, 
Who  planted  them  in  pride,  that  we 
Had  won  our  cause  and  liberty — 
A  tribute,  history  relates, 
To  the  original  thirteen  States. 

IX. — Recitation  for  School. 

We  reverence  these  famous  trees. 

What  better  monuments  than  these  ? 

How  fitting  on  each  Arbor  Day 

That  we  a  grateful  tribute  pay 

To  poet,  statesman,  author,  friend. 

To  one  whose  deeds  our  hearts  commend, 

As  lovingly  we  plant  a  tree 

Held  sacred  to  his  memory  ; 

A  fresh  memorial,  as  each  year 

New  life  and  buds  and  leaves  appear, 

A  living  monumental  tree. 

True  type  of  immortality  ! 

Journal  of  Education. 


DISCOVERY  DAY. 

Columbus  in  History.— Christopher  Columbus  was  born  at 
Genoa  in  1435  or  1436.  He  went  to  sea  when  fifteen  years  of  age, 
and  in  1470  married  the  daughter  of  an  Italian  named  Parestrello, 
from  whom  he  obtained  maps,  etc..  and  learned  to  make  them. 
While  doing  so  he  conceived  the  idea  of  land  to  the  westward,  and 
made  several  voyages  to  the  Azores  and  other  places.  In  1482  or 
1483  he  laid  his  scheme  of  discovery  before  John  II.  of  Portugal, 
but  the  scheme  was  finallv  ridiculed.  The  same  result  occurred 
at  Genoa.  On  his  way  to  Spain  he  stopped  at  a  convent  ni  An- 
dalusia to  get  food,  and  through  the  Superior  of  the  convent  he 
obtained  an  audience  of  the  queen,  demanding,  however,  too  much 
for  his  services.  Negotiations  were  interrupted,  but  were  after- 
ward resumed  and  a  contract  sealed  between  him  and  their  Cath- 
olic majesties.  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  April  17.  1492.  The 
expedition  furnished  him  consisted  of  three  ships,  named  Santa 
Maria,  Pinta,  and  Nina,  carrying  in  all,  120  men,  which  sailed  on 
Friday,  August  3,  1492,  at  eight  in  the  morning.  Various  dis- 
couragements attended  the  voyage,  but  on  the  i8th  of  September, 
while  bearing  to  the  southwest,  many  birds  were  seen,  indicating 
land  was  near,  and  on  the  nth  of  October,  a  cane,  a  log  of  wood, 
a  stick  wrought  with  iron,  a  board,  a  stake  covered  with  dog  roses 
were  fished  up,  and  at  ten  o'clock  at  night  Columbus  saw  and 
pointed  out  a  light  ahead  ;  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  tlie 
I2th  land  was  sighted,  which  was  an  island,  named  by  Columbus 
San  Salvador.  He  landed  in  the  morning  bearing  the  royal  ban- 
ner of  Spain  and  others  bearing  the  banners  of  the  Green  Cross. 
Columbus  took  possession  of  the  island  for  their  Roman  Catholic 
majesties  of  Castile  and  Leon.  •  ,    ,  • 

In  March  of  1496  the  Cabots,  father  and  son,  who  resided  in 
Bristol,  England,  were  appointed  by  Henry  VII.  to  the  command 
of  a  squadron  of  five  vessels  on  a  voyage  of  discovery  in  the 
Atlantic  Ocean.  They  steered  northwest,  on  the  17th  of  June,  1497, 
the  coast  of  Labrador.  North  America,  was  sighted,  and  on  the 
24th  of  June,  St.  John's,  Newfoundland— afterward  the  whole 
coast  of  North  America,  or  about  1800  miles  of  sea-coast,  on  all 
which  the  Cabots  were  authorized  to  set  up  the  royal  banner  of 
England  and  as  the  king's  vassals  to  possess  the  territories  discov- 
ered by  thern.  Thus  South  America  was  discovered  by  Columbus 
and  held  for  Spain,  and  has  continued  a  Roman  Catholic  country ; 
while  North  America,  discovered  by  the  Cabots,  who  were  com- 
missioned by  an  English  king  and  who  took  possession  of  it  for 

59 


6o 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


DISCOVERY  DAY. 


6i 


him,  has  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  England  and  become  Protes- 
tant.    This  singular  providence  is  worthy  of  note.] 

After  several  other  discoveries  Columbus  returned  to  Spain  in 
March  21,  1493,  was  received  by  their  majesties  in  full  court, 
related  his  adventures  and  discoveries,  and  great  honors  were  con- 
ferred upon  him.  He  sailed  with  a  second  expedition  on  the  25th 
of  September,  same  year,  having  on  board  1500  men  and  twelve 
missionaries.  Land  was  sighted  on  November  3,  and  named 
Dominica ;  many  other  places  were  explored  and  named.  In  visit- 
ing La  Navidad,  where  he  had  built  a  fort,  he  found  it  burned  and 
the  colony  dispersed.  The  climate  proved  unhealthy,  the  colonists 
greedy  and  mutinous,  and  Columbus  sent  a  dispatch  to  their 
Catholic  majesties  by  which  he  founded  the  West  India  slave 
trade.  After  appointing  a  regency  council  under  his  brother  he 
started  out  to  sea  again,  but  exhausted  with  fatigue  he  lay  five 
months  sick  in  Isabella.  The  state  of  the  colony  was  deplorable. 
Many  were  rebellious,  and  five  shiploads  of  Indians  were  sent  to 
Seville  to  be  sold  as  slaves.  Court  favor  about  this  time  seemed 
partially  withdrawn  ;  a  commissioner  was  appointed  to  inquire  into 
into  the  circumstances  of  his  rule.  He  returned  home,  arriving  in 
Cadiz  on  June  1 1,  1496.  The  sovereign  assuring  him  of  his  favor,  he 
asked  for  a  new  expedition,  which  after  some  delay  was  furnished, 
and  on  July  31,  1498,  he  discovered  Trinidad;  on  August  i  the 
mainland  of  South  America;  and  on  August  30  dropped  anchor  off 
Isabella.  The  colony  was  demoralized.  He  sent  home  many 
slaves  which,  when  Queen  Isabella  saw,  she  ordered  their  instant 
liberation  and  return.  Complaints  were  made  against  Columbus ; 
the  king  appointed  Francis  de  Bobadilla  on  March  21,  1499,  to 
proceed  to  the  island  of  Hispaniola,  examine  the  condition  of  the 
colony  and  suspend  the  rule  of  Columbus.  On  his  arrival  and 
after  examination,  Bobadilla  put  Columbus  and  his  two  brothers 
in  chains  and  shipped  them  off  to  Spain.  Columbus  would  not 
permit  his  fetters  to  be  removed  during  his  voyage,  declaring  he 
would  keep  them  "  as  relics  and  as  memorials  of  tiie  reward  of  his 
services."  He  wrote  a  touching  letter  to  the  queen,  which  turned 
the  royal  favor  toward  him,  and  she  ordered  a  large  sum  to  defray 
his  expenses  and  received  him  at  court,  not  in  chains  but  richly 
appareled.  Their  Majesties  repudiated  Bobadilla's  proceedings, 
but  Columbus  was  not  continued  as  viceroy.  He  started  from 
Cadiz  on  another  expedition.  May  9,  1502,  discovered  the  island  of 
Martinique,  and  after  much  suffering  he  ran  his  ships  aground  in 
a  small  inlet  called  Don  Christopher's  Cove.  From  there  he  sailed 
for  Spain,  and  arrived  at  Seville,  September  7,  1504.  He  was  too 
ill  to  go  to  court,  made  his  will  at  ValladoHd  May  19,  1506,  and  on 
the  following  day  died.  Isabella  had  died  some  tim.c  before.  A 
pompous  funeral  was  given  him  by  the  king  and  a  magnificent 
monument  erected  to  his  memory.  His  remains  were  buried  at 
ValladoHd,  but  have  been  transferred  from  place  to  place,  and 
now  rest  in  the  cathedral  at  Havana. 


A   NATIONAL   HOLIDAY. 

PROCLAMATION     BY    THE    PRESIDENT     OF    THE    UNITED 

STATES. 

Whereas,  by  a  joint  resolution  approved  June  29,  1892, 
it  was  resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled, 
»'that  the  President  of  the  United  States  be  authorized  and 
directed  to  issue  a  proclamation  recommending  to  the 
people  the  observation  in  all  their  localities  of  the  four  hun- 
dredth anniversary  of  the  discovery  of  America  on  the  21st 
day  of  October,  1892,  by  public  demonstration  and  by 
suitable  exercises   in   their   schools  and   other   places  of 

assembly"; 

Now,  therefore,  I,  Benjamin  Harrison,  President  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  in  pursuance  of  the  aforesaid 
joint  resolution,  do  hereby  appoint  Friday,  October  21, 
1892,  the  four  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  discovery  of 
America  by  Columbus,  as  a  general  holiday  for  the  people 
of  the  United  States.  On  that  day  let  the  people,  so  far  as 
possible,  cease  from  toil  and  devote  themselves  to  such 
exercises  as  may  best  express  honor  to  the  discoverer,  and 
their  appreciation  of  the  great  achievements  of  the  four 
completed  centuries  of  American  life. 

Columbus  stood  in  his  age  as  the  pioneer  of  progress  and 
enlightenment.  The  system  of  universal  education  is  in  our 
age  the  most  prominent  and  salutary  feature  of  the  spirit  of 
enlightenment,  and  it  is  peculiarly  appropriate  that  the 
schools  be  made  by  the  people  the  center  of  the  day's 
demonstration.  Let  the  national  flag  float  over  every 
schoolhouse  in  the  country,  and  the  exercises  be  such  as 
shall  impress  upon  our  youth  the  patriotic  duties  of  Ameri- 
can citizenship. 

In  the  churches  and  in  other  places  of  assembly  of  the 
people  let  there  be  expressions  of  gratitude  to  Divine  Provi- 
dence for  the  devout  faith  of  the  discoverer,  and  for  the 


"--'^-'--  -'■^'"" 


62 


THOUGHTS  t^Ok    THE   OCCASION. 


i 


Divine  care  and  guidance  which  has  directed  our  history 
and  so  abundantly  blessed  our  people. 

In  testimony  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and 
caused  the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  city  of  Washington  this  21st  day  of  July,  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
ninety-two,  and  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States 
the  one  hundred  and  seventeenth. 

BENJAMIN     HARRISON. 
By  the  President. 

John  W.  Foster,  Secretary  of  State. 


A  HARVEST   TIME  HOLIDAY. 

October  was  long  devoid  of  public  holidays.  As  the 
harvest  period,  and  as  one  of  the  most  delightful  of  all 
seasons,  it  is  pleasant  to  have  a  day  therein  set  apart  for 
rest  and  enjoyment.  October  21, 1892,  was  designated  by 
vote  of  Congress,  Discovery  Day,  and  the  President  was 
directed  to  issue  a  proclamation  calling  on  the  people  of 
the  country  properly  to  commemorate  the  four-hundredth 
anniversary  of  the  discovery  of  America.  The  board  of 
managers  of  the  World's  Fair  in  Chicago  dedicated  their 
buildmgs  in  that  month,  although  the  opening  of  the  Exhibi- 
tion and  also  the  naval  review  were  postponed.  Special 
exercises  were  held  in  the  public  schools  throughout  the 
country  in  honor  of  Discovery  Day,  and  an  appropriate 
programme  was  prepared  for  general  use  in  the  schools  on 
that  occasion.  The  various  denominational  pulpits  recog- 
nized the  day  by  services  befitting  the  occasion.  Other 
public  demonstrations  took  place,  and  nothing  was  spared 
to  make  the  celebration  one  long  to  be  remembered  and  to 
stir  a  sense  of  patriotism  within  the  hearts  of  the  people. 


Every  man  has  in  himself  a  continent  of  undiscovered 
character.     Happy   is  he  who  acts  the   Columbus  to  his 

own  soul.  THEO.    L.    CUYLER,    D.    D. 


DISCOVERY  DAY. 


DATE  OF  THE  COLUMBIAN  DEDICATION. 


63 


The  United  State  Senate  and  House  passed  a  bill  chang- 
ing the  date  of  the  Columbian  Exposition  dedication  from 
the  1 2th  to  the  21st  of  October  1892. 

October  12  is  '^old  style  "  ;  October  21  is  "  new  style," 
or  corrected  date. 

The  new  style  is  now  generally  adopted.  The  Pilgrims 
landed  at  Cape  Cod,  November  9  ;  the  event  is  celebrated 
in  New  England  on  November  19.  Washington  was  born 
February  11  ;  his  birthday  is  commemorated  February  22. 
The  earlier  dates  are  according  to  the  Julian  calendar, 
which  varied  from  the  astronomical  or  solar.  The  later 
days  belong  to  the  corrected  Gregorian  calendar. 

From  October  12,  1492,  to  October  12,  1892,  lacks  nine 
days  of  four  hundred  years.  From  the  former  date  to 
October  21  is  four  centuries  to  a  day.  Moreover  the  day 
on  which  the  New  World  was  first  seen  was  F'riday.  By 
a  striking  coincidence  the  21st  of  October,  1892,  fell  on 
Friday.     In  the  next  century  the  difference  will  be  13  days. 

Changing  the  date  of  the  dedicatory  exercises  at  Chicago 
had  a  substantial  practical  advantage.  The  New  York 
celebration  was  fixed  for  the  12th,  and  this  date  could 
not  be  changed  without  calling  an  extra  session  of  the 
Legislature. 

New  York  therefore  celebrated  on  the  12th  and  Chicago 
on  the  2ist.  This  avoided  the  obvious  disadvantage  of 
simultaneous  celebrations. 


CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS'  FAITH. 

Four  hundred  years  ago  Christopher  Columbus,  bear- 
ing the  royal  banner  of  Spain  in  his  hand,  landed  at  San 
Salvador.  Standing  among  his  followers  the  great  naviga- 
tor thanked  God,  and  the  rough  sailors  kissed  the  newly 
discovered  ground. 


64 


THOUGHTS  FOR   THE  OCCASION. 


DISCOVERY  DAY. 


H 


\ 


This  event,  which  the  people  of  America  commemo- 
rated worthily  in  1893,  was  the  result  of  a  faith  so  strong 
and  an  energy  so  restless  that  it  is  difficult  to  adequately 
portray  the  personality  which  embodied  them. 

Columbus  was  not  a  mere  visionary  who  made  a  lucky 
hit.  No  doubt  the  stories  of  mediaeval  sailors  about  the 
mysterious  land  beyond  the  Western  seas  fired  his  imagina- 
tion. But  the  unwearying  explorer  had  analyzed  the  tangi- 
ble evidences  of  a  new  country.  The  strange  things  washed 
in  by  the  ocean  from  the  west  meant  more  to  him  than  the 
legends  of  the  past. 

When  a  great  idea  comes  to  the  mind  of  a  man  like 
Columbus  it  is  hard  to  dislodge  it.  The  Senate  of  Genoa, 
his  native  city,  treated  his  plans  with  scorn.  The  King  of 
Portugal  treacherously  tried  to  steal  his  glory.  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella  of  Spain  turned  him  over  to  a  committee  of 
priestly  astronomers,  who  overwhelmed  him  with  Scriptural 
quotations  and  finely  drawn  theological  points.  He  was 
rejected  as  a  dreamer.  Again  and  again  he  was  repulsed, 
until  sick  at  heart  he  set  out  for  France. 

While  on  his  way  out  of  Spain  the  courier  of  Isabella 
overtook  the  weary  traveler  at  the  Bridge  of  Pines,  almost 
in  sight  of  Grenada.  That  meeting  was  a  tremendous 
incident  in  the  history  of  mankind.  It  turned  Columbus 
once  more  toward  the  court  of  the  relenting  queen,  who 
finally  furnished  the  means  through  which  he  reached  the 
American  continent. 

Columbus  is  always  a  good  subject  for  meditation.  His 
piety,  his  courage,  his  confidence  in  Providence  and  in  him- 
self, his  ceaseless  industry,  his  enterprise  and  indomitable 
self-control  are  strongly  marked  in  every  step  of  his  roman- 
tic and  extraordinary  career.  Had  he  been  a  man  who 
could  be  turned  from  his  high  purpose  by  discouragements 
his  name  would  be  unknown  to-day.  His  life  and  work  are 
a  monument  to  faith  and  determination.  He  felt  within 
him  the  power  to  do,  and  he  had  the  courage  to  dare. 

There  ought  to  be  some  special  features  in  the  Exposition 


of  1893  that  will  typify  this  great  spirit  of  adventurous  con- 
fidence in  God.  The  churches  of  Christendom,  without 
regard  to  denomination,  might  well  join  hands  on  this 
occasion,  if  only  for  a  single  day,  the  four  hundredth 
anniversary  of  the  morning  when  the  cross  was  planted  in 

the  New  World. 

New  York  Herald. 


DISCOVERY  AND   CONQUEST  OF  AMERICA. 

REV.   WILLIAM   WHITE  WILSON. 

Obviously  this  continent  had  to  be  discovered  before  a 
great  republic  could  be  founded  upon  it,  but  the  great  fact 
in  this  connection  was  that  the  peoples  who  colonized  this 
country  acquired  by  their  movement  hither  the  spirit  of 
enterprise  and  the  enlarged  views  which  made  the  develop- 
ment of  popular  government  possible.  The  Old  World 
owes  scarcely  less  to  Columbus  than  the  New.  The  men 
who  initiate  great  changes  are  usually  those  who  have  left 
their  early  surroundings  and  acquired  enlarged  ideas  by 
experiences  they  could  never  have  met  amid  their  old 
environment.  This  is  true  of  the  old  Greek  republics, 
which  did  not  become  progressive  until  they  began  to  send 
out  colonies,  and  it  is  true  of  Rome  also,  whose  greatest 
men  were  those  who  knew  most  of  the  countries  outside  of 
Italy.  The  discovery  of  America  opened  the  way  for  the 
inception  and  development  of  modern  ideas.  This  was  not 
the  thought  of  the  Spaniards,  who  believed  they  were 
founding  a  great  empire  here  which  would  give  them  the 
predominating  power  in  the  Old  World.  They  had  entirely 
different  plans  for  the  future  of  this  continent  from  those 
which  were  destined  to  be  carried  out.  The  founders  of 
the  great  communities  here  were  not  kings,  queens,  nor 
their  emissaries.  The  colonists  who  came  here  to  seek 
enlarged  opportunities  of  life  and  well-being,  and  especially 
those  who  came  to  seek  relief  from  religious  persecution, 


66 


THOUGHTS  FOR   THE   OCCASION. 


laid  the  foundations  of  the  country's  greatness.  To  them 
and  to  the  spirit  which  actuated  them  in  coming  here  is 
due  the  existence  of  this  republic — the  greatest  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  world.  The  Puritans  and  the  Quakers — the 
refugees  who  sought  peace  from  oppression — accom- 
plished what  the  favorites  of  crowned  heads  could  not. 
Columbus  is  entitled  to  be  placed  at  the  head  of  all  dis- 
covers, not  only  because  his  force  of  character  stands  out 
pre-eminently,  but  because  of  the  vast  consequences  of  his 
work.  The  revolutions  in  Europe  by  which  constitutional 
liberty  has  been  secured  in  England  and  France  and  other 
countries  are  the  result  of  the  reflex  action  of  American 
ideas — ideas  which  could  not  have  been  evolved  in  Europe 
before  Columbus  opened  the  gates  of  the  New  World  and 
gave  room  for  the  Aryan  race  to  extend  itself  and  acquire 
its  present  mental  development.  Not  only  civil  liberty 
throughout  the  world,  but  liberty  of  conscience,  is  due  to 
the  colonization  of  America.  Common  experience  taught 
men  of  diverse  views  that  they  could  live  here  on  terms  of 
mutual  toleration,  and  the  lessons  learned  here  have  been 
of  benefit  elsewhere.  The  great  difficulty  in  the  Old 
World  was  that  men  submitted  passively  to  oppression, 
having  no  conception  of  their  rights.  It  needed  the  spirit 
of  discovery  to  show  men  what  was  due  to  them.  All 
Americans  are  imbued  with  this  spirit — it  is  their  ruling 
passion.  It  makes  them  enterprising  beyond  all  other 
people,  and  urges  them  to  assist  the  progress  of  other 
countries  as  well  as  their  own.  So  long  as  this  spirit 
exists  among  us,  our  independence  is  safe,  for  we  owe  our 
independence,  our  prosperity,  and  all  that  we  value  to  that 

spirit. 

Chicago  Tribufie. 


All  great  discoveries  are  made  by  men  whose  feelings 
run  ahead  of  their  thinking. 

C.  H.  PARKHURST,  D.  D. 


DISCOVERY  DAY, 


67 


CHRISTOPHER    COLUMBUS    IN    AMERICA    TO- 

DAY. 

The  progress  made  since  the  discovery  of  America  has 
been  so  great  and  so  gradual  that  even  those  familiar  with 
the  history  of  invention  and  discovery  are  startled  when 
they  take  time  to  think  seriously  about  it.  I  wonder 
what  Columbus  would  think  if  he  could  visit  our  country 
to-day.  Let  us  suppose  him  in  one  of  the  coast  cities, 
New  York,  for  instance,  looking  out  from  its  harbor,  and 
watching  the  coming  and  going  of  the  great  steamships,  so 
different  from  the  three  small  vessels  which  constituted  his 
fleet.  Fancy  his  look  of  astonishment  when  told  that  the 
time  required  for  the  voyage  now  is  eight  or  ten  days,  or 
even  less.  How  he  would  contrast  this  with  the  ten  weeks 
he  passed  on  the  waters,  surrounded  by  a  mutinous  crew, 
and  utterly  ignorant  himself  of  his  destination  ! 

Think  of  the  amazed  look  upon  his  face,  as  he  beholds 
for  the  first  time  a  locomotive  with  its  moving  train- 
wonderful  enough  when  seen  upon  a  level,  and  still  more 
so  when  upon  an  elevated  railway.  Do  you  not  think  his 
face,  as  he  began  to  comprehend  its  purpose  and  extent, 
would  express  astonishment  and  perhaps  awe?  To  this 
mode  of  traveling  add  the  street  railway  system,  with  its 
many  improved  methods,  and  his  thoughts  would  doubtless 
revert  to  Genoa,  his  native  city,  and  the  carts  and  donkeys 
driven  in  its  narrow  streets. 

As  night  came  on,  the  blaze  of  electric  lights  would  com- 
plete his  bewilderment,  only  to  be  further  increased  by  the 
sights  and  sounds  of  the  next  day. 

Let  us  suppose  it  to  be  some  morning  when  a  piece  of 
startling  news  has  arrived  from  across  the  water.  Watch 
his  astonished  face  as  he  slowly  grasps  the  fact  that  we  on 
this  side  the  ocean  may  know,  in  what  would  seem  to  him 
an  incredibly  short  time,  what  has  transpired  on  the  other. 
And  his  amazement  deepens  while  the  wonderful  Atlantic 
cable,  with  all  the  difficulties  attending  its  completion  and 


68 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


its  manner  of  operation,  is  explained  to  him.  To  this  story 
is  added  the  information  that  all  over  this  broad  country 
are  stretched  magic  wires,  uniting  its  extremes  and  making 
its  cities  and  towns  as  one.  Even  his  mind,  admitted  to 
be  stronger  than  that  of  ordinary  men  of  his  time,  would  be 
almost  staggered. 

Then  fancy  him  complying  with  a  request  to  talk  into 
what  seems  to  be  a  little  box  with  a  hole  in  it,  fastened 
upon  the  wall,  and  being  told  that  the  listener,  in  a  town 
many  miles  away,  will  be  delighted  to  make  his  acquaint- 
ance !  Do  you  think  he  could  easily  make  up  his  mind 
that  a  huge  joke  was  not  being  perpetrated  upon  him  ?  I 
think  it  would  take  more  than  the  answer  to  dispel  the 
feeling. 

Then  suppose  him  to  hear  the  report :  "  A  cold  wave 
predicted  ;  make  ready  !  "  I  am  sure  he  would  take  keen 
delight  in  hearing  about  the  Weather  Department  Bureau, 
the  observatories  and  Signal  Service  stations  on  the  moun- 
tain peaks  of  the  West,  and  the  methods  of  calculating  the 
time  of  storms.  He  knew  something  of  astronomy,  and  his 
knowledge  of  the  time  of  an  eclipse  once  served  him  well. 

At  last,  thoroughly  dazed  by  what  he  has  seen  and  heard 
in  this  one  city,  I  wonder  if  he  could  be  easily  induced  to 
trust  his  newly  given  life  to  the  mercy  of  a  railway  train, 
and  so  shift  the  scene.  And  can  you  imagine  his  sensa- 
tions as  he  is  whirled  along  through  town  and  country  with 
the  rapidity  to  which  we  have  grown  so  accustomed  ? 

Do  you  not  think  that  by  the  time  he  had  gone  the  length 
and  breadth  of  this  great  country,  he  would  wish  for  the 
peace  and  repose  of  his  tomb  in  Havana  ? 

Herald  and  Presbyter. 


No  man  has  come  to  true  greatness  who  has  not  felt  in 
some  degree  that  his  life  belongs  to  his  race,  and  that 
what  God  gives  him  he  gives  him  for  mankind. 

BISHOP   PHILLIPS   BROOKS. 


DISCOVERY  DAY. 


69 


THE   PIONEERS    OF   AMERICAN   INDE- 

PENDENCE. 


ROBERT  C.  WINTHROP. 

The  hour  when  Columbus  and  his  compeers  discovered 
our  continent^its  ultimate  political  destiny  was  fixed.  At 
the  very  gateway  of  the  Pantheon  of  American  liberty  and 
American  independence  might  well  be  seen  a  triple  monu- 
ment, like  that  to  the  old  inventors  of  printing  at  Frank- 
fort, including  Columbus  and  Americus  Vespucius  and 
Cabot.  They  were  the  pioneers  in  the  march  to  independ- 
ence. They  were  the  precursors  in  the  only  progress  of 
freedom  which  was  to  have  no  backward  steps.  Liberty 
had  struggled  long  and  bravely  in  other  ages  and  in  other 
lands.  It  had  made  glorious  manifestations  of  its  power 
and  promise  in  Athens  and  in  Rome  ;  in  the  mediaeval 
republics  of  Italy,  on  the  plains  of  Germany,  along  the 
dykes  of  Holland,  among  the  icy  fastnesses  of  Switzer- 
land, and,  more  securely  and  hopefully  still,  in  the  sea-girt 
isle  of  Old  England.  But  it  was  the  glory  of  those  historic 
old  navigators  to  reveal  a  standing  place  for  it  at  last, 
where  its  lever  could  find  a  secure  fulcrum,  and  rest  safely 
until  it  had  moved  the  world  !  The  fullness  of  time  had 
now  come.  Under  an  impulse  of  religious  conviction,  the 
poor  persecuted  Pilgrims  launched  out  upon  the  stormy 
deep  in  a  single,  leaking,  almost  foundering  bark  ;  and  in 
the  very  cabin  of  the  Mayflower  the  first  written  compact 
of  self-government  in  the  history  of  mankind  is  prepared 
and  signed.  Ten  years  afterward  the  Massachusetts  Com- 
pany came  over  with  its  charter,  and  administered  it  on 
the  avowed  principle  that  the  whole  government,  civil  and 
religious,  is  transferred.  All  the  rest  which  is  to  follow 
until  the  4th  of  July,  1776,  is  only  matter  of  time  and 
opportunity.  Certainly,  my  friends,  as  we  look  back  to-day 
through  the  long  vista  of  the  past,  we  perceive  that  it  was 
no  mere  declaration  of  men  which  primarily  brought  about 


70 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


the  independence  we  celebrate.  We  cannot  but  reverently 
recognize  the  hand  of  that  Almighty  Maker  of  the  World 
who  '*  founded  it  upon  the  seas  and  established  it  upon  the 
floods."  We  cannot  but  feel  the  full  force  and  felicity  of 
those  opening  words  in  which  the  Declaration  speaks  of 
our  assuming  among  the  powers  of  the  earth  "  that  separate 
and  equal  station  to  which  the  laws  of  nature  and  of 
nature's  God  entitle  us." 


COLUMBUS  AND  HENDRICK  HUDSON. 

ADDRESS    OF    CHAUNCEY    M.    DEPEW,    NEW    YORK'S    DAY    AT 
THE    COLUMBIAN    FAIR,    SEPTEMBER   4,   1893. 

Two  hundred  and  eighty-five  years  ago  yesterday  Hen- 
drick  Hudson  cast  anchor  inside  of  Sandy  Hook.  Though 
not  so  fortunate  as  Columbus,  he  possessed  in  equal  measure 
the  qualities  which  won  success  and  fame  for  the  Discoverer. 
No  sailor  ever  entered  upon  voyages  so  venturesome  with 
his  limited  resources  and  meager  equipment.  His  skill  and 
daring,  his  courage  and  faith,  carried  a  shallop  and  scanty 
crew  where  a  modern  steamship  could  hardly  go.  He 
reached  nearly  the  highest  point  yet  attained  beyond  the 
Arctic  Circle.  He  tried  every  bay  and  inlet  in  the  effort  to 
pierce  the  icy  barrier  of  the  frozen  North.  He  breasted  the 
mountainous  waves  of  Labrador  and  the  storms  of  the  New 
England  coast  and  then  rested  in  the  harbor  of  New  York. 

Columbus  sought  to  carry  his  religion  to  the  heathen,  and 
to  find  the  gold  of  the  fabled  Eldorado,  but  Hudson  sailed  in 
the  interests  of  the  expanding  commerce  of  the  world.  It 
was  the  belief  of  his  times  that  a  shorter  passage  to  India 
would  increase  the  trade  and  wealth  of  nations.  The  Orient 
was  supposed  to  possess  boundless  riches  for  the  Occident, 
if  shorter  and  cheaper  channels  of  communication  could  be 
opened.  The  discovery  of  the  Hudson  River  was  an 
epoch.  Great  and  growing  commonwealths  on  the  borders 
of  the  lakes,  filled  with  twenty  millions  of  people,  who  in 


DISCOVERY  DAY. 


71 


fleeing  from  other  lands  have  found  liberty,  happiness,  and 
home,  are  among  the  results  of  his  discovery.  It  has  incal- 
culably increased  the  material,  moral,  and  intellectual  wel- 
fare of  the  human  race.  It  has  made  possible  the  strength, 
the  power,  and  the  perpetuity  of  the  Republic. 

Hendrick  Hudson  discovered  Chicago.  This  city  is  as 
much  indebted  to  him  as  New  York.  His  deeds  gave  the 
opportunity  and  furnished  the  incentives  which  have  created 
this  present  and  potential  capital  of  the  West.  The  witches 
of  New  England,  fleeing  from  the  hangman  and  the  scaffold, 
found  welcome  and  shelter  in  tolerant  and  liberal  New 
York.  The  same  spirit  continued  down  the  years,  brought 
the  Yankee  over  to  dispossess  the  Dutchman  from  politi- 
cal power  and  the  Irishman  to  dethrone  the  Yankee,  and 
the  German,  the  Scandinavian,  the  Italian,  the  Frenchman, 
the  Russian,  the  Dane,  and  the  Spaniard  to  enjoy  the  equal 
benefits  and  unequaled  opportunities  of  the  great  city  and 
State  of  New  York.  This  cosmopolitan  town,  while  it  is 
the  first  of  American  cities,  yet  has  more  Irish  than  any 
city  in  Ireland,  more  Germans  than  any  city  in  Germany, 
save  Berlin,  and  enough  Italians  to  equal  the  population  of 
the  second-class  cities  of  Italy. 

We  should  fail  to  properly  celebrate  the  day  if  we  did 
not  pay  tribute  to  these  immigrants  from  Holland,  who 
founded  the  State  and  left  upon  it  the  indelible  impress  of 
their  spirit  and  principles.  New  York  is  here  to-day  cele- 
brating her  day,  claiming  the  elements  which  constitute  her 
glory,  but  only  in  that  spirit  of  friendly  emulation  which 
recognizes  the  merits  of  every  one  of  the  sister  common- 
wealths. We  are  here  with  our  Governor  to  say  to  the 
country,  and  to  the  representatives  of  other  nations,  that 
we  have  done  our  best  for  the  excellence  and  success  of 
this  great  exposition. 

It  has  been  the  misfortune  of  the  early  Dutch  settlers 
that  the  genius  of  Irving  ran  riot  in  a  humorous  history 
of  their  habits,  occupations,  and  achievements.  The  ablest, 
most  cultivated  and  philosophic  minds  the  country  has  ever 


72 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


produced  have  exercised  their  best  efforts  in  developing 
the  character  and  purpose  of  the  Puritan  and  the  Pilgrim. 
The  New  York  Dutchman  had  no  serious  historian,  but  the 
State  and  city  are  his  monuments. 

We  are  here  in  this  building,  with  its  admirable  architec- 
ture, artistic  finish,  and  hospitable  dimensions ;  we  are  here 
with  our  arts,  our  agriculture,  our  manufactures,  the  prod- 
ducts  of  our  mines  and  of  our  forests,  the  illustrations  of 
our  educational  system  and  of  our  general  progress,  to 
explain  to  the  other  commonwealths  and  to  the  world  why 
it  is  that  we  enjoy  and  retain  and  will  continue  to  hold  the 
proud  position  of  the  Empire  State  of  the  American  Union. 

It  will  be  the  distinguishing  feature  of  this  century  that 
in  its  last  years  and  dying  hours  there  gathered  upon  the 
borders  of  Lake  Michigan  such  a  display  of  the  beneficent 
results  of  peace  and  good  will  among  men  in  promoting  the 
happiness  of  mankind  and  the  welfare  of  all  peoples  as  no 
other  age  has  ever  seen.  May  its  example  be  felt  in  every 
department  of  industry,  in  the  realm  of  diplomacy,  and  in 
the  expansion  of  liberty  during  the  twentieth  century. 

New  York  Tribune. 


THE   MAN   FOR   THE   TIME. 

It  would  be  an  easy  matter  to  find  fault  with  Columbus, 
but  at  this  juncture  it  is  far  better  to  dwell  on  the  brighter 
side  of  his  character.  And  there  is  much  to  be  said  in  praise 
of  his  illustrious  name.  He  was  a  man  chosen  as  an  instru- 
ment of  Divine  Providence  to  penetrate  the  mists  that  hid 
the  unknown  continent  of  the  Western  sea. 

I  pay  tribute  to  his  faith.  It  had  been  brought  to  his 
notice  that  an  oar  had  been  picked  up  by  a  sailor  on  the 
waters  near  the  Canaries,  an  oar  marked  with  strange 
hieroglyphics.  It  had  floated  from  the  west.  There  was, 
then,  a  world  out  yonder.  This  was  the  basis  of  his  creed. 
It  was  corroborated  by  Plato's  story  of  Atlantis,  and  by 


DISCOVERY  DAY. 


73 


tales  told  by  the  Carthaginians  of  green  islands  in  the 
west.  A  book  called  *'  Imago  Mundi  "  is  still  extant  with 
annotations  in  the  margin  made  by  Columbus,  and  in 
which  Roger  Bacon  expressed  the  opinion  that  it  was  not 
far  from  Spain  to  Asia.  Two  bodies  had  been  seen  out 
upon  the  open  sea,  strange-looking  bodies  with  bronzed 
faces  such  as  were  seen  in  India.  The  man  put  this  and 
that  together  and  said,  Why  may  we  not  reach  India  by 
sailing  into  the  west?  This  was  his  creed  :  "  India  in  the 
west."  He  believed  it.  A  man  with  a  creed  is  always  a 
mighty  man.  "According  to  thy  faith  be  it  unto  thee." 
Columbus  was  molded  by  the  revelation  that  came  to  him 
by  that  floating  oar.  ''India  in  the  west."  It  was  half 
right,  half  wrong,  but  he  wholly  believed  it.  *'  If  yonder," 
said  he,  "is  the  new  world,  I  will  find  it." 


COLUMBUS    AND    HIS    TREATMENT     OF    THE 

INDIANS. 

The  Supreme  Pontiff  of  the  Roman  Church  issued  an 
encyclical  with  regard  to  Christopher  Columbus,  recom- 
mending that  on  the  anniversary  of  the  discovery  of 
America,  certain  special  services  be  held  in  all  the  churches 
of  the  Catholic  faith  in  Spain,  Italy,  and  the  two  Americas. 
There  was  nothing  improper  in  this  :  on  the  contrary,  it 
was  an  appropriate  method  of  commemorating  the  services 
rendered  to  the  world  by  the  great  Italian  navigator.  Pro- 
ceeding further,  however,  the  Pope  attempted  in  his  letter 
to  show  that  Columbus,  in  making  his  voyage  of  discovery, 
was  impelled  solely  by  a  desire  to  serve  the  cause  of 
religion  and  promote  the  interests  of  the  Roman  Church. 

It  is  quite  possible  that  in  stating  the  intention  of  his 
voyage  at  the  Spanish  court,  Columbus  may  have  used 
language  intimating  that  he  had  this  purpose  at  heart,  for 
at  that  time  there  was  no  surer  way  of  attaining  an  object 
than  by  recommending  its  religious  features  to  the  attention 


74 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


of  those  likely  to  advance  it ;  but  if  such  evidence  as  this 
exists,  it  is  the  only  reason  to  suppose  that  Columbus  had 
any  religious  purpose  at  heart,  or  thought  at  all  of  the  souls 
of  the  natives  of  this  country.  On  the  contrary,  so  far 
was  he  from  considering  either  the  spiritual  or  temporal 
welfare  of  the  Indians  whom  he  found,  that  among  his  first 
acts  were  barbarous  betrayals  of  the  childlike  confidence 
with  which  they  received  him.  One  of  his  vessels  grounded 
on  the  West  India  Islands  ;  the  natives  came  to  his  assist- 
ance in  their  boats,  and  helped  to  land  the  cargo,  and 
although  the  goods  they  handled  must  have  seemed  to  them 
of  priceless  value,  and,  by  reason  of  the  situation,  were  left 
unguarded  on  the  beach,  not  a  single  article  was  missing. 
Everywhere  the  Indians  received  the  Spaniards  with  the 
utmost  kindness  and  hospitality,  and  everywhere  was  this 
kindness  repaid  with  heartless  brutality,  characteristic 
rather  of  demons  than  of  men. 

The  history  of  the  connection  of  the  Spaniards  with  the 
Indians  of  the  New  World  shows  that,  far  from  being  actu- 
ated by  a  desire  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  unfortunate 
red  men,  their  sole  purpose  was  to  use  them  as  instruments 
for  gaining  wealth,  regardless  of  their   health  or  even  of 
their  lives.     History  does  not  contain  a  blacker  record  than 
the  dealings  of  the  Spaniards  with  the  Indians.     Columbus 
himself  set  the  example  in   Hayti,  when  he  and  his  com- 
panions ruthlessly  butchered  the  miserable  savages  simply 
to  create  terror.     The  pages  of  Las  Casas  are  full  of  the 
records   of  deeds   of   which   demons  should  be  ashamed. 
The  natives  were  massacred  in  sheer  wantonness,  in  sport, 
in  mockery.     In  one  place  a  Spanish  officer  laid  a  wager 
that  he  could  cut  off  three  heads  at  one   stroke.     Three 
natives  were  brought,  laid  one  upon  another,  and  by  hack- 
ing at  the  necks  of  the  unfortunate  creatures,  the  wager 
was  lost.     In  another,  a  Spanish  trooper  made  a  bet  that 
he  could  transfix  twelve  with  his  lance,  and  won  the  wager. 
Miserable  men  were  hacked  to  pieces  that  a  Spaniard  might 
try  the  temper  of  his  knife  ;  were  subjected  to  the  most 


DISCO  VER  Y  DA  V. 


75 


excruciating  and  nameless  tortures,  that  their  captors  might 

be  amused. 

Nor  is  the  list  of  cruelties  complete  with  the  tale  of  these 
wanton  outrages  on  humanity.  Thousands  upon  thousands 
of  the  wretched  natives  perished  in  the  mines,  whither  they 
were  dragged  in  chains  by  the  greedy  Spaniards.  It  was 
estimated  that  during  the  first  fifty  years  of  the  Spanish 
occupation,  thirteen  million  of  the  natives  perished  by 
want,  privation,  and  overwork  in  the  mines  or  at  the  hands 
of  their  brutal  captors.  Las  Casas,  in  one  place,  gathered 
over  two  hundred  children,  whose  parents  had  been  taken 
away,  and  who  were  left  to  starve.  Treachery  was  resorted 
to,  to  capture  men  for  the  mines.  When  slaves  were  needed 
in  Hayti,  a  message  and  ships  were  sent  to  the  Laccadives, 
promising  that  if  the  natives  would  come  to  Hayti  and  be 
baptized,  they  would  be  treated  by  the  Spaniards  as 
brothers.  Thousands  came,  believing  the  cruel  falsehood, 
and  were  immediately  set  to  work  under  taskmasters.  The 
West  Indies  were  almost  depopulated.  Cuba,  Hayti,  and 
Porto  Rico  had  no  population  outside  the  Spanish  towns 
and  their  environs  ;  in  the  Leeward  Islands,  which  at  the 
discovery  contained  an  estimated  population  of  four  thou- 
sand, seventeen  years  later  only  fourteen  starving  wretches 

could  be  found. 

With  such  a  record  as  this— a  record  of  butchery,  of 
horrid  outrage,  and  nameless  crime,  a  record  which  is  per- 
fectly open  to  the  world,  which  has  stood  undisputed  and 
indisputable  for  four  centuries— it  is  too  late  for  the  Sov- 
ereign Pontiff  of  Rome  to  attempt  to  reconcile  this  tale  of 
massacre  with  the  lively  interest  which  he  declares  the 
early  explorers  to  have  felt  in  the  cause  of  religion.  Motives 
of  men  may  generally  be  judged  with  some  degree  of 
accuracy  from  their  acts  ;  and  the  Peruvian  chief  was  not 
far  wrong  who,  when  solicited  by  the  Spanish  to  be  baptized 
and  worship  the  true  God,  held  up  a  bit  of  gold  and  said  : 
*'  This  is  the  only  God  the  Spaniards  worship." 

S/.  Louis  Christiati  Advocate. 


76 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


AMERICA  : 
ITS    NATIONAL   AND    INDIVIDUAL    IDEALS. 

AN     ADDRESS    BY     BISHOP    HAYGOOD    BEFORE    THE    VANDER- 

BILT     UNIVERSITY. 

When,  by  guidance  of  inspiring  Providence,  Columbus 
found  America,  men  called  it  "The  New  World."  It  is 
still  the  New  World,  and  the  Anglo-American  is  a  new 
nation,  making  only  the  first  chapters  of  its  history.  The 
people  who  went  before  us  left  no  memorials  of  conse- 
quence. Neither  the  Indians  we  know,  nor  the  mound- 
builders  we  do  not  know,  nor  such  as  went  before  them, 
were  worthy  to  be  the  lords  of  such  a  world  as  this  we  live 
in  to-day.  They  were  in  a  sense  the  children  of  Nature 
only,  and  Nature,  Saturnlike,  devoured  them.  They  did 
not  "  subdue  the  earth  "  ;  the  earth  subdued  them.  They 
were  mere  pensioners  of  nature's  bounty,  living  upon  the 
fruits  of  forests  and  streams. 

If  some  of  these  dead  and  gone  people,  as  the  Aztecs, 
did  show  some  skill  as  builders,  they  made  no  worthier 
contributions  to  history  than  the  ruins  that  tell  where  they 
once  toiled  in  vain. 

Till  the  English-speaking  and  God-fearing  colonists 
came  there  were  none  who  dwelt  on  this  continent  who 
had  thoughts  worth  keeping  alive  in  the  world.  If  all  the 
ideas  our  forerunners  had  were  utterly  dropped  out  of 
history  men  would  not  miss  them.  These  people  lived 
after  a  fashion,  but  what  did  they  stand  for?  What  prin- 
ciples,  what  causes  were  incarnate  in  them  ?  People  who 
only  live  must  die  the  death.     It  is  Heaven's  law. 

What  are  the  possibilities  of  this  country  that  the  Maker 
and  Ruler  has  intrusted  to  us?  Only  a  prophet  could 
answer,  for  we  never  know  what  anything  that  has  life  in 
it  really  is  till  we  know  what,  in  its  fullest  development,  it 
has  come  to  be.  We  do  not  so  much  as  know  what  an 
acorn  is  till  we  know  the  tree  that  has  grown  out  of  it. 


DISCOVERY  DAY. 


77 


What  treasures  are  here  men  only  suspect.  God,  who 
placed  them  here  to  develop  and  maintain  a  vast,  rich,  and 
Christian  civilization,  only  knows  how  great  they  are. 
Young  giants  do  not  at  first  know  their  strength  ;  the  full, 
clear,  and  intelligent  consciousness  of  power  does  not,  in 
the  really  strong,  come  at  the  first  spontaneous  stirrings  of 
energy,  nor  does  it  come  in  its  fullness  at  once  to  any. 
Daniel  Webster,  making  his  first  schoolboy  declamations, 
had  small  knowledge  of  his  latent  power  ;  his  masterful 
arguments  on  the  Constitution  and  the  Union  were  not 
then  in  his  consciousness,  except  as  the  mightiest  oak 
that  ever  lifted  its  regal  head  to  the  sky  and  laughed  at  the 
voice  of  the  tempest,  was  once  in  the  tiny  acorn  from 
which  it  sprang. 

Measured  surveyor-wise  ours  is  indeed  a  very  big 
country.  Greece  would  hardly  fill  up  the  boundaries  of 
some  of  our  counties,  yet  Greece  gave  to  the  world  more 
that  cannot  die  than  all  the  peoples  who  went  before  us 
between  the  two  oceans.  When  we  are  grown  up  how 
many  people  will  there  be  ?  With  the  density  of  England's 
population  Texas  alone  can  maintain  in  comfort  a  hundred 
millions  of  human  beings.  With  a  population  no  denser  the 
United  States  can  easily  find  homes  and  support  for  many 
more  than  a  thousand  millions. 

What  are  we  here  for  ?  I  answer,  as  a  Christian— as  one 
who  believes  in  God  and  his  Christ,  and  therefore  does  not 
despair  of  man.  We  are  here  to  build  a  Christian  nation. 
Nothing  less  would  vindicate  the  wisdom  of  the  Creator  in 
preparing  such  a  country  ;  nothing  less  vindicate  the 
Providence  that  first  settled  these  shores  with  English- 
speaking  Christian  men  and  women,  by  divine  laws  of  life 
driving  hence  and  away  the  people  who  would  not  use 
their  gifts  ;  nothing  less  than  a  Christian  state  makes  life 
worth  living  for  us  or  our  children. 

The  realization  of  this  stupendous  plan  of  Heaven  will 
not  come  about  by  accident.  The  conditions  of  our  prob- 
lem favor  success,  but  success  is  not  of  chance.     Success 


7S 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION. 


in  any  high  sense  does  not  spring  out  of  the  earth,  as  the 
grass  and  wild  flowers  spring  out  of  the  bosom  of  fertile 
prairies.  The  powers  that  rule  the  world  are  not  blind  ; 
sightless  Fortune,  flinging  her  favors  about  without  dis- 
crimination, is  a  heathen  conception.  In  a  universe  gov- 
erned by  law,  the  doctrine  of  chance  has  no  place.    .    . 

What  a  man  becomes,  depends  on  his  relation  to  the  law 
of  his  being.  The  doctrine  applies  in  its  full  force  to 
nations.  The  man  is  the  unit  of  the  race,  and  what  is  good 
for  one  is  good  for  all.  Nations  can  no  more  be  saved  in 
disobedience  to  law,  than  a  man  can  be  saved  in  disobedi- 
ence to  law.  Obedience  is  the  condition  of  life  everywhere, 
and  disobedience  everywhere  and  every  time  issues  in 
death.  This  also  is  salvation  by  faith,  for  obedience  to 
law  is  the  product  of  faith — faith  in  the  law,  if  not  in  the 
lawgiver.  Expediency  and  right  always  coincide  in  the 
long  run  ;  there  can  be  no  true  political  economy  any  more 
than  true  religion  that  forgets  or  ignores  righteousness — 
that  is  obedience.  .  . 

At  this  point  let  us  ask,  What  does  this  new  and  strong 
nation  propose  to  itself  ?  What  does  it  wish  to  be  ?  What 
ideal  does  this  nation  hold  up  to  stimulate  and  guide  its 
energies  ? 

Events,  so  far  as  men  only  are  related  to  them,  are  the 
exponents  of  their  thoughts  and  desires — ideals  determine 
men's  lives  and  shape  the  history  of  nations.  As  the  uni- 
verse expresses  a  thought  of  the  Creator,  so  the  history  of 
a  people  expresses  their  thoughts,  so  far  as  human  purpose 
and  effort  determine  history. 

Let  us  take  a  simple  illustration  from  the  life  of  one 
man — a  man  who  was  far  from  being  a  model,  but  one 
altogether  noteworthy.  One  autumn  evening — so  the  story 
goes — Warren  Hastings,  then  a  little  boy,  was  lying  under 
the  gold-and  purple-leaved  trees  of  a  noble  English  forest, 
gazing  from  a  hillside  upon  the  estate  and  home  of  his 
ancestors.  In  the  changes  of  life  the  ancestral  home  had 
passed  into  the  hands  of  strangers.     It  was  as  the  bitter- 


DI SCO  VERY  DAY. 


79 


ness  of  death  to  the  proud  child  of  a  race  born  to  rule. 
His  imagination  kindled  at  the  thought  of  one  day  winning 
it  all  back  to  the  house  of  Hastings.  Then  and  there  he 
resolved  to  achieve  what  in  his  ambitious  dreams  was  a 
bright  possibility.  Into  the  faith  that  gave  birth  to  his 
purpose,  he  baptized  his  soul.  The  thought  grew  with  his 
growth  ;  it  became  a  fixed  and  absorbing  passion  ;  it  was 
the  ideal  achievement  of  a  consuming  ambition.  It  was 
the  burning  thought  of  all  his  days  and  the  ravishing  dream 
of  all  his  nights.  It  clung  to  him  through  the  studies  of 
his  schooldays,  valued  only  because  they  gave  him  train- 
ing for  his  great  enterprise.  It  made  his  heart  as  stone  and 
his  nerves  as  steel  while  mastering  the  art  of  war  ;  it  made 
his  intellect  subtle  and  remorseless  as  Satan's,  while  learn- 
ing diplomacy — the  art  of  overreaching  men  ;  it  was  the  one 
star  that  glowed  in  the  sky  during  his  great  campaigns 
in  India.  For  this  he  was  blind  to  all  dangers  and  deaf  to 
all  cries  of  pity.  He  accomplished  his  design  ;  it  may  be 
ignobly,  but  most  surely. 

History  is  full  of  illustrations ;  so  is  the  commonest 
everyday  life  of  men  that  never  gets  itself  written.  Busi- 
ness, art,  poetry,  science,  literature,  religion — most  of  all — 
illustrate  the  thought  and  enforce  the  principle  that  lies  at 
the  heart  of  the  doctrine  of  ideals. 

No  man  ever  rises  above  his  ideal  to  stay — nay,  no  best 
man  ever  reaches  his  ideal.  In  the  nature  of  things  he 
cannot ;  for  there  is  no  ideal  that  is  not  beyond  the  possi- 
bility of  present  achievement — unless  it  be  a  very  Jow  one, 
always  tending  downward.  What  is  achieved  is  ideal  no 
more.  If  the  ideal  does  not  outrun  achievement  there  is 
nothing  to  live  for.  If  anything  worthy  is  attempted  and 
accomplished,  if  there  be  true  life,  and  therefore  healthful 
growth,  the  ideal  will  be  forever  reforming  itself  ;  it  will 
grow  larger,  truer,  diviner,  and  the  mount  of  vision  to-day 
only  reveals  a  greater  height  nearer  the  stars  for  to- 
morrow's ascent. 

This  much  is  not  in  the  least  speculative  ;  this  much  is 


rVr  afr'4-iiv.er(an«rtflg>iMnaai)iMiitof  ft 


8o 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


clear  beyond  the  need  of  argument — a  man's  real  ideal 
determines  the  lines  of  his  activities.  Many  fancies  and 
vague  dreams  there  may  be  that  do  not  enter  into  volition, 
endeavor,  or  achievement ;  but  what  a  man  really  makes 
his  ideal — that  which  he  truly  and  persistently  wishes  to  be, 
that  above  all  things  he  tries  to  be — to  that  he  bends  all 
else.  He  may,  indeed,  dream  and  talk  sentimentally  of 
other,  and  it  may  be  in  themselves  of  better  things,  but  if 
we  would  certainly  know  what  is  uppermost  in  a  man's 
thought  of  life  ;  if  we  would  be  sure  of  his  ruling  love ;  if 
we  would  know  beyond  doubt  what  he  wishes  to  be  (and  it 
is  out  of  uppermost  thoughts,  ruling  loves,  and  fixed  long- 
ings, that  the  imagination  creates  its  ideal),  there  is  an  easy 
way  to  find  out  what  we  wish  to  know. 

When  you  seek  to  know  what  a  man's  ideal  of  life  is,  do 
not  ask,  *'  What  does  the  man  say  ?  "  His  words  may  mis- 
lead you  as  his  posings  deceive  him.  Inquire  only,  *'  What 
does  this  man  really  try  to  do  ?  "  When  we  find  out  what 
a  man  who  can  choose  his  lines  of  life  steadily  strives  to 
do,  we  have  found  out  what  he  really  wishes  to  be  ;  we 
know  what  his  ideal  is. 

Is  he  trying  with  all  his  might  to  win  what  men  call 
fame  ?  Then  fame  is  his  ideal,  and  praise  is  success.  Is 
all  his  effort  put  forth  to  gain  and  to  hold  high  office  ? 
Then  power  is  his  ideal,  and  his  best  man  is  he  who  is  at 
the  top  of  all  the  offices.  Or,  does  he  bend  his  energies 
and  consecrate  all  his  powers  to  the  accumulation  of 
money  .''  Then  no  matter  how  fine  are  his  words  in  mere 
talk  about  the  true  end  of  life,  we  know  what  his  ideal  is — 
we  have  not  yet  learned  how  low  it  is.  Christ  knew,  and 
he  has  told  us.  It  is  money  this  man  wants  ;  wealth  to 
him  measures  human  success  or  failure  ;  his  ideal  is  the 
richest  man.  To  him  come  no  greater  thoughts  than  such 
as  puzzle  his  soul  concerning  "  greater  barns." 

Everywhere  the  statement  holds  good  :  A  man  strives 
hardest  for  what  he  most  desires,  and  his  ideal  is  involved 
in  its  realization.     This  is  true,  whether  the  ideal  be  noble 


DISCOVERY  DAY. 


8i 


or  ignoble,  divine  or  devilish.  It  would  be  a  grave  mistake 
to  suppose  that  all  ideals  lift  up  ;  they  as  certainly  drag 
down.  The  false  ideal  pursued  not  only  degrades — it 
destroys.  .  . 

It  is  indeed  true  that  many,  perhaps  most,  men  lack  unity 
of  purpose  ;  they  think  of  or  wish  for  many  things  ;  they 
may  not  be  conscious  of  creating  or  entertaining  such 
things  as  ideals,  but  after  all  the  fact  remains,  a  man's  real 
desire,  and  by  consequence,  his  real  ideal,  is  shown  by  what 
he  most  tries  to  do.  "  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them" 
is  the  test  of  the  Divine  Teacher,  who  not  only  gives  us  all 
true  religion,  but  whose  doctrine  is  the  germ  of  all  our 
science.  With  him  facts  determine  what  theories  are  to  be, 
and  this  is  the  heart  of  the  Baconian  philosophy. 

The  principle  we  have  been  considering  applies  to  nations 
as  surely  as  to  men.  In  any  community,  whether  a  little 
village,  a  great  city,  or  a  nation,  the  consensus  of  the  people's 
thought  as  to  what  is  the  true  summu?n  bonum,  the  unmis- 
takable chief  good,  "the  best  thing  in  the  world,"  this 
creates  the  ideal,  inspires  the  efforts,  and  determines  the 
history  of  that  community,  of  that  nation. 

History  is  rich  in  illustrations.  Two  only  I  barely 
mention.  Take  Rome  in  Caesar's  time.  Rome  was  then 
fully  conscious  of  herself,  and  knew  perfectly  well  what  she 
wanted.  The  end  Rome  sought  was  dominion,  and  Rome 
strained  every  nerve  to  make  conquests.  And  so  it  came 
to  pass  that  Rome  governed  the  world.  Greece  at  her 
best  showed  her  ideal  in  her  arts.  And  it  came  to  pass 
that  Greece  also  conquered  a  world,  and  gave  the  patterns 
for  all  the  arts  that  came  after  her  day.  .  . 

What  is  the  American  ideal  ?  It  may  seem  difficult,  or 
impossible,  to  find  the  answer.  In  no  country  of  the 
world  are  there  more  "  views,"  *'  doctrines,"  **  creeds," 
"philosophisms"  concerning  human  life  pressed  upon  the 
attention  of  men.  There  are  voices  on  every  side,  most 
insistent  and  clamorous  for  recognition.  We  cannot  find 
our  answer  by  weighing  the  pleas  which  these  many  and 


82 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION. 


diverse  and  most  urgent  voices  make.  We  will  reach  our 
answer  by  asking  a  different  and  less  complex  question  : 
In  what  path  of  endeavor  does  American  energy  most 
expend  itself  ?  At  the  end  of  that  path  be  sure  we  find  the 
ideal  of  our  nation.  What  are  the  most  people  most  trying 
to  do  ?  To  ask  this  question  is  to  answer  it :  Maki?tg 
money.  Not  earning  a  support  for  one's  family  ;  not  making 
honorable  provision  for  old  age,  or  comfortable  settlements 
for  one's  children,  but  making  money  for  the  sake  of  money 
and  for  the  sake  of  what  it  commands.  Find  us  the  richest 
man,  and  the  ideal  American  will  be  one  richer  than  he. 
Making  money  as  the  end  and  aim  of  life  is  a  foolish  and 
unmanly  thing  ;  making  money  as  a  means  to  an  end  may 
be  a  very  wise,  and  also  a  very  noble  occupation.  The 
power  that  is  in  money  to  do  good  is  the  one  quality 
in  it  that  gives  it  worth,  that  entitles  it  to  respect,  that  lifts 
it  above  dirt  and  corruption.  Measuring  men  by  mere 
money  gauges  is  heathenism.  Making  money-having  the 
chief  end,  and  money-getting  the  chief  occupation,  of  life, 
works  out  the  most  deplorable  results  in  the  thoughts  and 
lives  of  men.  When  the  richest  becomes  the  foremost  man, 
and  one  richer  than  the  richest  the  ideal  man,  we  forget 
why  a  man  is  sent  into  this  world,  and  cease  to  know  what 
a  man  really  is.  Confusion  enters  into  all  our  conceptions 
of  human  life.  We  apply  false  tests  to  ourselves  as  well  as 
to  others  ;  we  "call  evil  good  and  good  evil"  ;  conscience 
loses  its  polarity,  and  virtue  dies  at  the  root.  When  men 
choose  occupations  simply  to  make  money  ;  seek  office  only 
for  salaries,  perquisites,  and,  above  all,  opportunities  ;  in  a 
word,  when  money  is  the  end,  and  money-getting  the  busi- 
ness of  life,  character  and  usefulness  become  secondary, 
whereas  character  and  usefulness  are  in  human  life  what 
God  cares  for,  and  what  a  wise  and  good  man  prizes  above 
all  the  world.    .    . 

Few  of  us  realize  how  despotic  this  money  ideal  has  be- 
come. Nothing  is  more  foolish  than  the  making  of  whole- 
sale indictments  of  our  times  or  of  our  people,  unless  it  be 


DISCOVERY  DAY. 


83 


the  blindness  that  will  not  see  a  storm-bearing  cloud  till  it 
bursts  in  desolating  fury. 

Men   known   to  be  unprincipled  are  honored  for  their 
bank  accounts.     Men  of  fortune,  and  controlling  the  influ- 
ences  that  command  fortune,  can  hold  high  office  and  feel 
themselves  too  safe  to  need  vindication  when  charged  with 
infamous  crimes.     It  no  longer  startles  us  when  an  election, 
to  the  United  States  Senate  even,  not  infrequently  turns 
upon  the  gold  rather  than  the  brains,  virtue,  or  patriotic 
service  of  candidates.     It  no  longer  shocks  us  that  the 
**  barrel "  enters  as  an  essential  factor  into  many  elections, 
and  not  a  little  legislation.     It  has  become  so  commonplace 
as  hardly  to  be  a  scandal  that  party  managers  calculate  the 
price  of  purchasable  voters,  and  "  levy  contributions "  to 
meet  what  they  call  "  legitimate  expenses."     Big  men  make 
combinations  that  crush  all  weaker  rivals,  organize  "trusts" 
that  rob  the  people,  and  are  called  financiers.     In  ravenous 
greed  they  are  the  sharks  of  the  business  world,  and  as  to 
conscience  they  are  the  successors  of  the  Barbary  pirates 
who  scourged  the  Mediterranean  some  generations  gone. 
If  they  succeed  they  enter  the  charmed  circle  of  our  im- 
mortals.    A  million  dollars  covers  a  multitude  of  sins,  and 
many  millions  are  of  the  essence  of  nobility.     Thousands 
of  people,  finding  to  support  them  voices  not  a  few  in  hire- 
ling newspapers,  count  it  unpatriotic  that  a  minority  in  the 
legislature  of  Louisiana  refuse  a  bribe  of  $25,000,000,  and 
curse  the  only  men  who  are  struggling  to  save  the  virtue 
and  honor  of  the  State.     So  high  is  money,  so  low  is  honor. 
How  can  there  be  honesty  in  business,  purity  in  politics, 
righteousness    in   government,   or   true   virtue   anywhere, 
while  money  is  the  essential  element  in  our  ideal  of  human 
success  ?     How  can  it  be  otherwise  than  that  our  politics 
should  be  corrupted,  that  legislation  should  be  poisoned, 
that  government  should  be  debauched  under  the  tremen- 
dous stimulus  of  an  all-abounding  idolatry  of  gold  ?     How 
can  it  be  otherwise  than  that  a  fatal  paralysis  should  strike 
down  social  and  civil  virtue  ? 


84 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


If  a  great  university  has  any  mission  to  men  it  is  to 
help  them  to  find  out  the  very  truth  of  things — to  help 
them  to  find  out  how  to  live.  A  great  school  like  this  is  a 
perpetual  protest  against  the  worship  of  money.  It  shows 
how  nobly  money  may  be  used  when  consecrated  to  noble 
ends  and  intrusted  to  the  wise  and  good.  Very  gracious 
to  us  was  the  Providence  that  brought  together  Cornelius 
Vanderbilt  and  Holland  N.  McTyeire — two  men  not  often 
matched  in  this  world,  each  in  his  sphere  a  master  and 
king  of  men. 

That  the  generous  founder  meant  his  royal  gift  to  under- 
lie and  foster  a  great  Christian  university  is  absolutely  cer- 
tain, not  by  mere  words,  but  by  the  method  he  took.    .    . 

Our  section — this  South — is  the  very  best  part  of  the 
Union,  as  the  Union  is  the  best  part  of  the  world.  The 
South  has  just  begun  her  true  development  of  all  sorts, 
and  in  all  lines  of  human  activity.  Her  future  is  more 
glorious  than  the  dream  of  any  poet  who  ever  sung  to  the 
hopes  of  his  people  the  coming  of  a  golden  age.  Her 
natural  resources  are  inexhaustible,  and  the  hopeful 
courage  of  her  people  is  invincible.  From  1880  to  1890, 
the  taxable  property  of  the  Southern  States  increased  six- 
teen hundred  millions,  and  her  growth  has  just  begun. 
Before  a  century  has  passed  away  the  South  will  be  fabu- 
lously rich — richer  than  any  country  in  the  world.  Whether 
this  amazing  prosperity  will  be  a  blessing  or  a  curse  depends 
on  the  relations  of  our  people  to  the  eternal  powers.  If 
we  grow  rich  only,  w^e  become  pagans.  If  mere  business, 
mere  money-making,  shall  become  an  all-consuming  passion, 
then  our  whole  course  of  life  gets  out  of  balance,  and  we 
drift  into  chaos.  Nothing  that  a  great  university  can  do 
at  such  a  time  as  this  is  better  for  the  country  than  to  see 
to  it  that  the  business  prosperity  of  the  people  shall  not 
utterly  destroy  them.  Let  a  school  like  this  lead  the  peo- 
ple into  the  best  ways  of  thinking  and  living.  Let  it  show 
to  us  the  true  ideal  life.  This  is  its  mission  and  work. 
Teach  us  not  books  only,  but  life  and  duty  also. 


DISCOVERY  DAY, 


85 


THOUGHTS  PERTINENT  TO  DISCOVERY  DAY.* 

The  Problem  of  Liberty  Solved. — The  elect  nations 
of  the  past  had  been  chosen  of  God  to  carry  out  certain 
purposes  of  his,  as  the  chosen  people  of  Israel,  Babylon, 
Greece,  and  Rome.  In  later  history  Spain,  Germany,  and 
England  each  led  the  other  in  its  own  day  and  thus  fulfilled 
the  purposes  of  God.  England  of  late  has  been  the  elect 
nation,  but  now  the  star  of  empire  is  passing  westward  to 
this  land.  There  is  no  question  but  that  now  and  in  the 
future  this  land  is  to  be  the  elect  nation  under  God  for 
solving  the  problems  of  liberty,  of  the  amelioration  of  man- 
kind, and  of  the  best  Christian  civilization. 

rev.    M.    M.    smith,    PRESBYTERIAN. 

American  Resources. — Among  the  thoughts  suggested 
by  this  day  the  first  is  one  of  humiliation.  As  a  people  we 
are  disposed  to  brag  and  boast  and  have  an  inordinate 
confidence  in  our  powers.  We  are  possessed  with  an  idea 
that  American  ingenuity  can  accomplish  anything.  We 
regard  our  own  things  as  far  the  best  in  the  world,  our  own 
institutions  as  the  most  perfect.  But  if  we  come  to  view 
things  with  an  unprejudiced  eye  and  to  pass  judgment  free 
from  self-interest,  we  must  say  that,  as  a  rule,  our  own 
things  are  not  the  best,  the  productions  of  our  skilled  labor 
are  not  always  equal  to  those  of  older  countries.  The  only 
things  we  have  any  shadow  of  reason  to  boast  of  are  those 
things  the  production  of  which  we  have  nothing  to  do  with, 
namely,  those  things  which  are  our  natural  resources  and 
are  the  gift  of  God 

REV.  J.  NEVITT  STEELE,  D.  D.,  EPISCOPALIAN. 

The  Gateway  Opened. — Columbus  really  did  more  than 
he  intended,  for  he  actually  made  his  discovery,  which  the 
country  is  now  celebrating,  and  the  importance  of  which 

*  From  the  various  pulpits  in  New  York  City. 


86 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


Columbus  appreciated  and  spoke  of  when  he  said  :  **  I've 
opened  a  gate  by  which  others  may  enter."  And  still  he 
died  deprived  of  all  except  the  name  and  fame  of  the  New 
World.     This  was  the  apex  of  his  fame. 

It  is  nonsense  to  dwell  on  the  fact  that  Columbus  was  a 
Roman  Catholic,  any  more  than  Presbyterians  should  glory 
that  Washington  was  a  Presbyterian.  Columbus  lived  at  a 
time  when  he  was  obliged  to  be  a  member  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  and  that  is  all  there  is  to  it. 

REV.  G.  R.  VAN  DE  WATER,  EPISCOPALIAN. 

God  at  the  Helm. — Columbus  started  on  his  voyage  of 
discovery  with  God  at  the  helm.  Columbus  was  a  suscep- 
tible man,  and  imbued  with  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
he  started  to  find  a  new  passage  to  the  Indies  with  the  idea 
of  spreading  God's  Word. 

REV.  DR.  SATTERLEE,  EPISCOPALIAN. 

In  THE  Van  of  Civilization. — Some  writers  dispute  that 
the  honor  of  the  discovery  of  America  was  due  to  Columbus, 
saying  that  he  was  never  very  near  North  America.  Per- 
haps as  much  honor  was  due  to  Sebastian  Cabot  and  the 
English  government.  However  that  might  be,  by  common 
consent  nearly  everyone  has  agreed  in  giving  honor  to  the 
names  Columbus  and  Columbia.  When  Columbus  landed 
he  invoked  the  blessings  of  God,  and  in  the  establishment 
of  this  government  the  same  divine  power  has  been  recog- 
nized. Could  anyone  doubt  that  these  things  were  provi- 
dential  ?  It  opened  a  country  which  has  been  fruitful  in 
the  enlargement  of  the  Church,  in  the  teaching  of  the  Bible, 
and  in  bringing  people  of  all  nations  and  all  beliefs  together 
in  the  common  cause  of  the  advancement  of  civilization. 

REV.  DR.  J.  W.   brown,  EPISCOPALIAN. 


The  Problem  of  our  Civilization.— Ours  is  the  last 
experiment  among  the  nations.     Other  nations  may  pos- 


DI SCO  VERY  DAY, 


87 


sibly  arise  and  mar  their  future  or  make  it,  but  it  is  in  no 
undue  spirit  of  self-importance  that  we  say  to-day  that  no 
other  nation  can  arise  with  so  great  an  inheritance  and  so 
great  opportunities  as  the  God  of  Nations  has  given  us. 

Great  danger  lurks  in  our  country's  rapid  growth  in 
material  wealth.  The  rich  are  growing  richer  and  the  poor 
poorer,  and  all  are  selfish.  I  hope  that  the  problem  of  our 
civilization  may  be  solved  without  bloodshed. 

REV.    DR.    RAINSFORD,    EPISCOPALIAN. 

No  Parallel  Record. — Without  a  parallel  in  history 
the  name  of  Christopher  Columbus  stands  alone,  and  like 
some  great  oak  towering  above  the  forest  trees,  so  does  he 
stand  far  in  advance  of  his  age  with  a  work  which  is  the 
most  important  since  the  birth  of  the  Saviour  of  mankind. 
And  I  believe  that  as  surely  as  men  have  been  chosen  by 
God  for  any  work,  so  surely  was  he  the  chosen  vessel  to 
reveal  the  marvels  of  a  New  World  to  the  wondering  vision 
of  the  Old.  REV.  E.  s.  holloway,  baptist. 

Our  Advantages  and  Opportunities. — Many  bless- 
ings and  advantages  were  bequeathed  to  all  nations  by  the 
discoveries  of  the  great  captain  :  First,  in  securing  large 
space  for  the  multiplying  millions  of  the  Old  World  ;  sec- 
ond, in  affording  opportunity  for  experiments  in  govern- 
ment, unburdened  by  the  evil  traditions  and  prejudices 
which  have  so  often  defeated  efforts  toward  political 
equality  ;  and,  third,  in  liberating  the  world's  thought  and 
sympathies  by  showing  how  men  of  all  creeds  and  conceits 
might  dwell  together  in  the  same  political  household  in  per- 
fect good  will.  DR.  RYLANCE,  EPISCOPALIAN. 


The  Triumph  of  Faith. — God  went  before  Abraham 
and  Columbus  as  truly  as  when  by  the  pillar  of  cloud  by 
day  and  the  pillar  of  fire  by  night  he  went  before  the 
children  of  Israel. 


88 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


We  do  not  detract  from  the  honor  due  to  Columbus  in 
giving  honor  to  those  who  long  before  his  day  plowed 
their  lonely  way  across  the  trackless  ocean. 

The  year  1492  was  a  time  of  great  glory  and  equal  dis- 
grace for  Spain.  It  was  the  year  of  unparalleled  cruelty 
to  the  Jews,  inhuman  treatment  of  many  Moors,  and  the 
introduction  of  the  Satanic  Inquisition.  All  the  glory  which 
Columbus  brought  was  tarnished  by  the  foul  blackness  of 
the  Inquisition.  There  was  danger  at  one  time  that  he 
himself  might  suffer  from  its  horrible  methods  of  examina- 
tion and  punishment. 

His  life  teaches  this  lesson  more  than  any  other— the 
triumph  of  faith.  He  was  another  Abraham  ;  he  went  out, 
not  knowing  whither  he  went.  He  was  another  Moses  ;  he 
endured,  seeing  Him  who  is  invisible.  The  man  without 
faith  is  the  man  without  power. 

Life  is  an  ocean,  and  no  one  can  cross  it  safely  unless  he 
sail  in  the  bark  of  faith. 

REV.    DR.    MacARTHUR,    BAPTIST. 

Faith  in  the  Unseen.— Columbus  really  did  begin 
the  discovery  of  America,  and  we  are  all  helping  to  com- 
plete the  discovery. 

As  we  re-read  the  story  of  Columbus  we  are  perplexed 
beyond  measure  by  the  dissolving  processes  of  historical 
criticism.  Remorseless  investigation  has  broken  into  a 
thousand  pieces  the  image  of  Columbus  which  was  the  fas- 
cination of  our  childhood.  While  the  truth  is  always  wel- 
come we  have  need  to  beware  of  the  excesses  and  vagaries 
of  reckless  criticism,  and  we  cannot  put  our  trust  in  those 
whose  sole  accomplishment  is  skill  in  the  art  of  disparage- 
ment and  disdain.  Amid  all  disputes  one  fact  no  detractor 
can  disguise— Columbus  did  the  deed  which  brought  the 
two  continents  together,  and  made  the  life  of  the  East  to 
flow  into  the  lands  of  the  West. 

He  thought  the  "  Sea  of  Darkness  "  was  full  of  great 
islands.     Thus  most  men  go  through  mire  and  bog  ere 


DISCOVERY  DAY, 


89 


they  reach  the  bedrock  of  reality.  Men,  like  horses,  must 
often  wear  blinders  to  keep  them  going  straight  forward. 
Knowledge  comes  by  sailing  out  into  the  sea,  and  "  if  any 
man  will  do  he  shall  know."  He  believed  most  profoundly 
in  God,  in  the  Bible,  and  in  Jesus  Christ  as  the  incarnate 
Word.  His  science  and  his  religion  were  like  the  right 
hand  and  the  left.  The  greatest  discovery  of  the  ages 
began  in  prayer  and  ended  in  praise. 

An  age  that  loses  its  faith  in  the  Unseen  will  lose  all 
power  of  achievement.  It  may  produce  dissectors  and 
parasites  ;  it  cannot  bring  forth  heroes,  martyrs,  or  leaders. 
Our  Western  world  was  discovered,  our  civilization  founded, 
our  institutions  created  by  men  who  feared  God,  and  there- 
fore feared  no  one  else. 

rev.  w.  h.  p.  faunce,  baptist. 


All  Honor  to  the  Brave. — I  believe  in  giving  Colum- 
bus  full  credit  for  what  he  did  and  for  what  good  qualities 
he  showed,  but  I  do  not  think  he  was  either  a  saint  or  a 
great  genius.  In  the  year  1492  America  was  still  undis- 
covered, although  the  Norsemen  made  their  way  from  Ice- 
land to  Greenland  as  far  back  as  876.  Their  voyages  were 
mere  coasting  expeditions.  They  did  not  open  the  way 
across  the  western  ocean. 

Does  it  not  look  as  if  this  Genoese  sailor  were  servant  of 
someone  greater  than  himself  ?  Does  it  not  look  as  if  a 
mighty  Master  guided  him  and  sent  him  forth  on  a  mission  ? 
We  feel  this  all  the  more  profoundly  when  we  reflect  upon 
the  immense  and  striking  contrast  between  the  objects 
which  Columbus  had  in  view  and  the  real  results  of  the  dis- 
covery of  America.  Let  us  give  him  honor  as  a  brave  and 
fortunate  mariner,  who  did  his  duty  according  to  his  lights, 
and  was,  therefore,  used  to  accomplish  a  great  work.  But 
above  and  behind  this  man  let  us  look  up  to  the  Almighty 
Lord  who  guided  him,  and  praise  our  God,  who  alone  doeth 
wonders. 

rev.  J.  H.  van    dyke,  D.  D.,  PRESBYTERIAN. 


90 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION. 


The  Tolerance  of  American  Institutions. — Many 
speak  of  the  life  works  of  the  great  discoverer  and  limit 
them  to  his  going  west  in  quest  of  new  lands,  and  the  sub- 
lime faith  and  courage  that  he  showed.  The  contributions 
which  Columbus  made  to  true  religion  were  not  so  readily 
seen.  In  the  discovery  of  a  new  world  a  theater  was  given 
for  the  development  and  application  of  religious  principles 
such  as  the  world  never  knew  before.  The  pure  religion  of 
modern  times  originated  in  Europe,  but  it  has  only  been 
possible  for  that  religion  to  find  its  highest  and  best  devel- 
opment under  the  tolerance  of  our  American  institutions. 
In  a  country  where  the  support  of  religion  is  voluntary,  and 
based  upon  the  sense  of  personal  responsibility,  can  alone 
be  found  the  best  expression  of  the  religion  of  Christ. 

REV.  C.  H.  EATON,  UNIVERSALIST. 


A  Survey  of  Four  Hundred  Years. — Now,  what  effect 
has  all  this  upon  us  as  we  survey  these  four  hundred  years 
of  our  history  to-day  ?  If  our  natures  are  at  all  responsive, 
it  makes  us  most  grateful  to  Almighty  God,  and  our  praise 
to  him  is  loud  and  full  and  fervent.  It  begets  within  us  a 
strong  confidence  in  the  future,  and  that  confidence  we  are 
right  in  holding  if  we  remember  the  basis  upon  which  it 
rests.  But  does  it  make  us  boastful  or  presumptuous  ? 
No;  that  would  be  weakness;  that  would  be  sin.  It 
develops  a  deep  sense  of  our  dependence  upon  God,  and 
make  us  humble,  prayerful,  and  grateful.  Thus  attributing 
all  of  the  past  to  Providence,  let  us  look  trustfully  to  him 
for  all  the  future, 

REV.  J.  B.  SHAW,  D.  D.,  PRESBYTERIAN. 

Our  Causes  for  Anxiety.— The  three  great  causes  for 
anxiety  for  the  future  on  the  part  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States  are  the  general  lawlessness  which  exists 
throughout  the  country,  bribery,  and  immigration. 

The  lawlessness  now  prevalent  throughout  the  United 
States  generally  is  something   which  demands    the  most 


DISCOVERY  DAY. 


91 


serious  consideration,  not  only  for  the  moral  but  the 
material  interests  of  the  people.  United  States  government 
reports  show  that  crime  is  on  the  increase  at  an  alarmingly 
rapid  rate. 

The  subject  of  the  increase  in  bribery  is  one  of  the 
utmost  importance,  for  in  the  existence  of  corruption  among 
officials  the  impartial  administration  of  justice  is  impossi- 
ble, and  without  that  the  proper  enforcement  of  the  law  is, 
of  course,  out  of  the  question,  and  general  lawlessness  must 
follow. 

In  the  matter  of  immigration  late  United  States  gov- 
ernment reports  show  the  hand  which  foreign  officials  bore 
in  furthering  pauper  immigration  to  this  country.  The 
governments  of  Europe  are  using  the  United  States  as  a 
dumping  ground  for  their  own  debased  populations. 

REV.  C.  H.  PARKHURST,  D.  D.,  PRESBYTERIAN. 

A  Religious  Discovery. — What  most  impressed  me  in 
all  that  wondrous  life,  which  we  commemorated  by  sermon 
and  song  and  military  parade  and  World's  Fair  and  Con- 
gress of  Nations,  was  something  I  never  have  heard  stated, 
and  that  was  that  the  discovery  of  America  was  a  religious 
discovery  and  in  the  name  of  God.  Columbus,  by  the  study 
of  the  prophecies  and  by  what  Zachariah  and  Micah  and 
David  and  Isaiah  had  said  about  the  "  ends  of  the  earth," 
was  persuaded  to  go  out  and  find  the  "  ends  of  the  earth," 
and  he  felt  himself  called  by  God  to  carry  Christianity  to 
the  "  ends  of  the  earth."  Then  the  administration  of  the 
Last  Supper  before  those  men  left  the  Gulf  of  Cadiz,  and  the 
evening  prayers  during  the  voyage,  and  the  devout  ascrip- 
tion as  soon  as  they  saw  the  New  World,  and  the  doxologies 
with  which  they  landed,  confirm  me  in  saying  that  the  dis- 
covery of  America  was  a  religious  discovery. 

Atheism  has  no  right  here  ;  infidelity  has  no  right  here ; 
vagabondism  has  no  right  here.  And  as  God  is  not  apt  to 
fail  in  any  of  his  undertakings  (at  any  rate,  I  have  never 
heard  of  his  having  anything  to  do  with  a  failure),  America 


92 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION. 


is  going  to  be  gospelized,  and  from  the  Golden  Gate  of 
California  to  the  Narrows  of  New  York  harbor,  and  from 
the  top  of  North  America  to  the  foot  of  South  America, 
from  Behring  Straits  to  Cape  Horn,  this  is  going  to  be 
Emmanuel's  land.  All  the  forms  of  irreligion  and  abom- 
ination that  have  cursed  other  parts  of  the  world  will  land 
here — yea,  they  have  already  landed — and  they  will  wrangle 
for  the  possession  of  this  hemisphere,  and  they  will  make 
great  headway  and  feel  themselves  almost  established. 

REV.  DR.  TALMAGE,  PRESBYTERIAN. 

Our  Greatest  Peril. — We  are  to-day  treading  in  the 
same  steps  that  other  historic  republics  have  taken  and  re- 
gretted— luxury  and  extravagance  attending  upon  wealth, 
general  laxity  in  morality  and  religion,  jealousies  and  dis- 
contents incident  to  poverty  among  the  masses,  bitter  con- 
flicts between  political  parties,  abuse  heaped  upon  public 
servants,  favors  shown  to  the  most  dangerous  classes  when 
they  can  be  used  to  promote  party  interests.  These  were 
the  reasons  why  the  historic  republics  fell  into  degradation, 
disgrace,  and  death.  The  greatest  danger  threatening  our 
republic  to-day  is  promiscuous  immigration,  and  from  this 
giant  evil  flow  many  perils,  chief  among  which  is  the  whole- 
sale placing  of  the  sacred  ballot  in  the  hands  of  those  who 
have  as  yet  done  nothing  entitling  them  to  American  citi- 
zenship. More  than  one  republic  has  been  wrecked  on  this 
rock. 

rev.    MADISON    peters,    REFORMED. 


Who  Piloted  the  Fleet. — At  this  point  w^e  note  a  signal 
providence.  The  land  breezes,  the  floating  seaweed,  and 
other  tokens  of  not  far-distant  land  had  moved  the  crew  to 
earnestly  implore  their  captain  to  change  his  course  ;  but  he 
persisted.  He  believed  that  India  lay  to  the  west,  and  west- 
ward he  sailed  on.  At  length,  however,  a  thorn  bush  floated 
by  with  berries  on.  Its  direction  suggested  that  the  land 
lay  to  the  southwest,  and  yielding  to  the  persistent  entreaties 


DISCOVERY  DAY, 


93 


of  his  men  he  changed  the  course  of  his  fleet  that  way,  and 
thereby  changed  the  course  of  history.     Had  he  sailed  to 
the   westward   he  would    have   landed   on    the    coast  of 
Florida,   and   the  continent   would  have   fallen    into   the 
hands  of   the  Spaniards.     As  it  was  he   landed   on   San 
Salvador.      Columbus   never  set  foot  upon  soil  of  what 
is  now  the  United  States  of  America.     Had  he  taken  pos- 
session of  the  mainland   in  the  name  of  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella,  our  land  would  have  been  doomed  to  a  Spanish 
civilization   and   all    its    attendant   horrors.     What   those 
would  have  been  may  be  plainly  seen  from  the  condition  of 
Spam  itself,  Mexico,  and  the  South  American  republics.     It 
was    a    hairbreadth   escape.     Columbus   was    indeed   the 
admiral  of  the  fleet,  but  the  Sovereign  God  was  at  the 
helm.     He  conducted  the  great  navigator  near  enough  to 
the  continent,  but  not  too  near— near  enough  for  the  uses 
of  discovery,  but  not  near  enough  for  settlement.    Columbus 
died  in  utter  ignorance  of  the  true  nature  of  his  discovery. 
He  supposed  he  had  found   India,  but  never  knew  how 
strangely  God  had  used  him. 

So  God  piloted  the  fleet.  The  great  discoverer,  with  all 
his  heroic  virtues,  did  not  know  whither  he  went.  **  He 
sailed  for  the  back  door  of  Asia,  and  landed  at  the  front 
door  of  America,  and  knew  it  not."  He  never  settled  the 
continent.  Thus  far  and  no  farther,  said  the  Lord.  His 
providence  was  over  all. 

REV.    D.    J.    BURRILL,    D.    D.,   PRESBYTERIAN. 


Mii^ 


rf' 


^^ 


r^ 


"  Beneath  this  Stone  repose  the  bones  of 
two  thousand  one  hundred  and  eleven  un- 
known soldiers,  gathered  after  the  war  from 
the  fields  of  Bull  Run  and  the  Route  to  the 
Rappahannock.  Their  remains  could  not  be 
identified,  but  their  names  and  death  are  re- 
corded in  the  archives  of  their  country,  and  its 
grateful  citizens  honor  them  as  of  their  noble 
army  of  martyrs.  May  they  rest  in  Peace." 
Skptember,  a.  D.  1866. 


TOMB  OF  THE  UNKNOWN  SOLDIERS, 
ARLINGTON   CEMETERY,    VA.,    OPPOSITE  WASHINGTON,    D.    C. 

The  tomb  bears  the  above  inscription. 


DECORATION  DAY. 

Historical. — Memorial  Day  is  a  creation  growing  out  of  the 
sentiment  of  the  times  in  which  it  originated.  It  has  been  the 
custom  in  several  countries  of  the  Old  World  to  decorate  the 
graves  of  soldiers,  but  in  no  other  country  is  it  made  a  day  of 
national  observance  as  it  is  now  known  in  the  north  and  south  of 
the  United  States.  Its  observance  at  first  grew  spontaneously 
from  the  tender  rememberance  of  the  relatives  and  others  who  sur- 
vived the  war  for  the  Union.  The  practice  of  fixing  a  day  for 
visiting  the  graves  of  the  fallen  soldiers  and  strewing  them  with 
flowers  commenced  in  the  early  years  of  the  Civil  War  of  1861-65. 
But  different  days  for  some  time  were  observed  in  different 
localities.  It  is  a  well  ascertained  fact  that  on  April  13,  1862,  just 
one  year  after  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter,  Mrs.  Sarah  Nicholas  Evans, 
with  the  wife  and  two  daughters  of  Chaplain  May  of  the  Second 
Regiment,  Michigan  Volunteers,  decorated  the  graves  of  a  number 
of  soldiers  buried  on  Arlington  Heights,  Va.  In  May  of  the  next 
year,  these  ladies  again  performed  the  same  loving  service.  In 
May  of  the  following  year,  they  also  rendered  the  same  sadly 
pleasant  attention  to  the  graves  of  solcMers  buried  at  Fredericks- 
burg, Va.  The  custom  gradually  became  more  general.  In  some 
instances  Governors  of  States  recommended  a  day  for  its  obser- 
vance; leading  members  of  the  Christian  Commission  exerted  their 
influence  on  its  behalf ;  the  pulpit  and  press  advocated  an  honored 
remembrance  of  the  fallen  soldiers  in  this  way  ;  the  Grand  Army 
of  the  Republic,  and  various  veteran  soldier  associations  made 
systematic  efforts  on  a  similar  line  ;  many  State  legislatures  were 
induced  to  make  a  given  day  a  legal  holiday  for  this  purpose  ;  and 
at  length  President  U.  S.  Grant  and  several  Governors  were  led  to 
unite  in  recommending  the  observance  of  the  same  day,  and  in 
1874  by  Congressional  enactment,  a  ceremonial  so  significant  of 
the  nation's  obligation  to  the  dead,  they  decided  upon  May  30th  as 
a  legal  holiday — now  known  and  recognized  as  Decoration  Day  in 
nearly  every  State  of  the  Union. 


Strew  flowers,  sweet  flowers,  on  the  soldiers'  graves, 
For  the  death  they  died  the  nation  saves. 
'Tis  sweet  and  glorious  thus  to  die — 
Hallowed  the  spot  where  their  ashes  lie. 

97 


9^  THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 

GRAND  ARMY  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

GENERAL    ORDERS.      INAUGURATING    DECORATION    DAY. 

The  30th  of  May,  1868,  is  designated  for  the  purpose  of 
strewing  with  flowers  or  otherwise  decorating  the  graves  of 
comrades  who  died  in  defense  of  their  country  during  the 
late  rebellion,  and  whose  bodies  now  lie  in  almost  every 
city,  village,  and  hamlet  churchyard  in  the  land.  In  this 
observance  no  form  of  ceremony  is  prescribed,  but  posts 
and  comrades  will  in  their  own  way  arrange  such  fitting 
services  and  testimonials  of  respect  as  circumstances  may 
permit. 

We  are  organized,  comrades,  as  our  regulations  tell  us, 
for  the  purpose,  among  other  things,  "  of  persevering  and 
strengthening  those  kind  and  fraternal  feelings,  which  have 
bound  together  the  soldiers,  sailors,  and  marines  who 
united  to  suppress  the  late  rebellion."  What  can  aid  more 
to  assure  this  result  than  by  cherishing  tenderly  the  memory 
of  our  heroic  dead,  who  made  their  breasts  a  barricade 
between  our  country  and  its  foes.  Their  soldier  lives  were 
the  reveilU  oi  freedom  to  a  race  in  chains,  and  their  deaths 
the  tattoo  of  rebellious  tyranny  in  arms.  We  should  guard 
their  graves  with  sacred  vigilance.  All  that  the  consecrated 
wealth  and  taste  of  the  nation  can  add  to  their  adornment 
and  security,  is  but  a  fitting  tribute  to  the  memory  of  her 
slain  defenders.  Let  no  wanton  foot  tread  rudely  on  such 
hallowed  grounds.  Let  pleasant  paths  invite  the  coming 
and  going  of  reverent  visitors  and  fond  mourners.  Let  no 
vandalism  of  avarice  or  neglect,  no  ravages  of  time  testify 
to  the  present  or  to  the  coming  generations,  that  we  have 
forgotten  as  a  people  the  cost  of  a  free  and  undivided 
Republic. 

If  other  eyes   grow   dull,  and  other  hands  slack,  and 
other  hearts  cold  in  the  solemn  trust,  ours  shall  keep  it 
well  as  long  as  the  light  and  warmth  of  life  remains  to  us. 
Let  us,  then,  at  the  time  appointed  gather  around  their 


DECORA  TIOM  DA  V. 


99 


sacred  remains,  and  garland  the  passionless  mounds  above 
them  with  the  choicest  flowers  of  springtime ;  let  us  raise 
above  them  the  dear  old  flag  they  saved  from  dishonor  ; 
let  us  in  this  solemn  presence  renew  our  pledges  to  aid 
and  assist  those  whom  they  have  left  us,  a  sacred  charge 
upon  a  nation's  gratitude — the  soldier's  and  sailor's  widow 
and  orphan. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  the  Commander-in-Chief  to  inaugu- 
rate this  observance  with  the  hope  that  it  will  be  kept  up 
from  year  to  year,  while  a  survivor  of  the  war  remains  to 
honor  the  memory  of  his  departed  comrades. 

JOHN  A.  LOGAN,  COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, 
Washington,  D.  C,  May  5,  1868. 


THE  REAL  CAUSE  OF  THE  WAR. 


R.   S.    MACARTHUR,   D.   D.,   NEW  YORK. 

We  can  speak  at  this  late  date  and  on  the  eve  of 
Memorial  Day  with  perfect  frankness,  and  without  any 
bitterness,  as  to  the  real  cause  of  the  war.  Questions  of 
this  sort  are  not  historic,  and  may  be  discussed  in  a  calm 
and  philosophical  spirit.  In  this  spirit  of  discussion  it  will 
not  be  denied  that  the  real  cause  of  the  war  was  the 
desire  for  the  extension  of  slavery.  The  claim  made  was 
that  it  was  for  the  preservation  of  "  State  Rights";  but  it 
really  was  for  the  establishment  of  a  government  founded 
on  the  idea  that  slavery  was  ordained  of  God.  After  Mr. 
Lincoln's  proclamation,  January  i,  1863,  Jefferson  Davis, 
in  a  message  to  the  Confederate  Congress,  spake  of  the 
Emancipation  Proclamation  as  *'  the  most  execrable 
measure  recorded  in  the  history  of  guilty  man."  He  also 
considered  it  contrary  to  "  the  instincts  of  that  common 
humanity,  which  a  beneficent  Creator  has  implanted  in  the 
breasts  of  our  fellow-men."  The  idea  of  employing  negro 
troops  by  the  North  was  received  with  utter  detestation  by 
the  South  ;  but  a  great  change  came  over  the  opinion  of 


160 


THOUGHTS  t^Ok   THE  OCCASIOI^. 


DECORA  TION  DA  Y. 


lOI 


I' 


men,  such  as  Davis,  Benjamin,  and  Lee,  and  of  the  peo- 
ple generally.  This  change  was  so  marked,  that  it  finally 
led  to  the  passage  of  a  law,  during  the  closing  week  of  the 
conflict,  for  the  employment  of  200,000  slaves  as  soldiers 
of  the  Confederacy.  When  in  i860  the  nation  by  its  vote 
practically  said  that  slavery  should  not  be  extended  over 
our  Western  prairies,  war  became  inevitable.  The  attack 
on  Fort  Sumter  was  the  inevitable  outcome  of  the  arrogant 
spirit  of  slavery  which  had  so  long  dominated  the  South. 
The  attack  caused  an  uprising  in  the  loyal  North  such  as 
the  world  had  never  before  seen.  Its  spirit  pervaded  every 
home  and  heart  ;  it  silenced  all  political  strife,  and  soon 
the  bravest  of  the  men  and  boys  were  ready  to  shed  their 
blood,  if  need  be,  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union. 
Nobly  did  the  North  respond  to  President  Lincoln's  call 
for  troops.  The  grand  hills  of  New  England,  the  busy 
villages  of  the  Middle  States,  and  the  great  slopes  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains  vied  with  one  another  in  responding  to 
that  call,  and  in  sending  their  sons  to  the  field  of  battle. 
We  have  read  of  the  courage  of  the  cohorts  of  Alexander ; 
of  the  bravery  of  the  legions  of  Caesar  ;  and  of  the  e/an  of 
the  battalions  of  Napoleon  ;  of  Wellington  when  he  sent 
word  to  the  troops,  "  Ciudad  Rodrigo  must  be  taken 
to-night,"  and  the  soldiers  replied,  **  It  will  be  taken 
to-night  "  ;  of  Picton,  who  with  terrible  wounds  rode  at  the 
head  of  his  troops  at  Waterloo,  making  one  of  the  charges 
that  decided  the  fortunes  of  the  day  ;  and  of  that  other 
officer  in  the  same  battle  who  held  his  reins  in  his  teeth 
because  his  left  arm  was  shattered.  Men  equally  brave 
fought  in  our  war.  Never  did  grander  men  contend  in 
holier  strife  than  did  those  of  the  loyal  North. 


Patriotism  is  usually  truer  and  more  intense  in  large 
countries,  and  in  countries  rough  and  barren,  than  in  those 
smooth  and  more  fertile. 

H.    WINSLOW. 


WHAT  THE  WAR  SETTLED. 

Previous  to  the  war  two  doctrines  were  advocated  in 
this  country— one  prevailed  in  the  South,  though  there 
were  some  statesmen  who  never  adopted  it  ;  the  other  pre- 
dominated in  the  Middle,  Eastern,  and  Western  States, 
though  in  all  these  some  held  the  Southern  view. 

The  doctrine  of  the  South  was  that  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  is  a  federal  union  ^/ .9/^:/^^;  the  doctrine 
of  the  rest  of  the  country  was  that  it  is  a  federal  republic. 
The  logical  cons*equence  of  the  former  was  that  a  State 
has  the  right  to  secede  ;  that  of  the  latter  was,  that  though 
the  States,  as  such,  have  various  rights  under  the  Constitu- 
tion, there  is  no  right  to  secede.  While  the  war  did  not 
change  the  facts  as  to  the  doctrine,  it  settled  the  issue. 
Incidentally  slavery  was  abolished,  and  amendments  made 
to  the  Constitution  under  the  forms  of  legislation  prescribed 

in  it. 

Much  light  upon  the  difference  between  a  federal  union 
of  States  and  a  federal  republic  can  be  obtained  by  a  glance 
at  the  history  of  our  sister  republic,  Switzerland.  In 
1815  it  formed  a  federal  union  of  States  which  continued 
till  1848,  when  it  was  peacefully  changed  into  a  federal 
republic.  Its  Constitution  provides  that  all  the  rights  not 
expressly  transferred  to  the  confederacy  are  exercised  by 
the  twenty-five  cantons  and  half  cantons  ;  the  federal 
government  shall  declare  war,  conclude  peace,  make 
treaties,  send  diplomatic  representatives.  No  separate 
alliances  are  legal  between  cantons  without  special  permis- 
sion. The  constitution  of  every  canton  is  guaranteed  if  it 
be  republican  in  form  and  has  been  adopted  by  the  people  ; 
and  it  can  be  revised  on  the  demand  of  a  majority. 

It  is  instructive  to  read  the  arguments  of  the  statesmen 
of  forty  years  ago  ;  but  the  war  settled  the  issue,  and  no 
State  nor  combination  of  States  can  extricate  itself  from 
the  loving  grasp  of  all  the  States.  "  United  we  stand." 
**  Divided  "  we  cannot  be.    £  Pluribus  Unum. 

Christian  Advocate^ 


X02 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


DECORA  TION  DA  V. 


103 


MEMORIAL  OF  A  PRESERVED  NATION. 

But  one  way  is  open  to  the  people  of  this  country  who 
would  estimate  the  value  of  the  services  rendered  by  the 
Union  soldiers,  dead  and  living.  It  is  to  try  to  imagine 
what  the  result  would  have  been  had  the  Union  been 
divided. 

There  would  have  been  two  nations  instead  of  one ; 
twice  as  many  foreign  diplomats  within  the  territory  as 
now  ;  twice  as  many  possibilities  of  foreign  complications  ; 
and  much  more  than  twice  as  much  difficulty  in  settling 
them,  while  the  influence  of  each  fragment  would  be  much 
less  than  half  the  amount  exercised  by  the  whole. 

Those  who  had  a  common  ancestry  which  had  been 
represented  in  the  same  halls  of  legislation,  had  cheered 
the  same  flag  and  fought  together — not  against  each  other — 
for  freedom,  would  have  been  strangers  and  foreigners, 
aliens  from  the  commonwealth  of  which  Washington  was 
the  father. 

Mutual  jealousies  would  make  standing  armies  necessary, 
and  war  clouds  would  ever  have  lowered  upon  the  political 
horizon. 

It  was  the  valor  of  our  soldiers  that  stood  between  the 
people  of  the  United  States  and  these  evils. 

JVezu  York  Christian  Advocate. 


THE  WAY  TO  HONOR  OUR  PATRIOTIC  DEAD. 

DAVID  GREGG,  D.  D, 

We  honor  our  heroic  and  patriotic  dead  by  being  true 
men,  as  true  men  by  faithfully  fighting  the  battles  of  our 
day  as  they  fought  the  battles  of  their  day.  The  flower  of 
a  true  and  beautiful  life  is  the  flower  to  put  upon  the  sol- 
dier's grave.  Trueness  to  our  country  is  the  best  way  to 
honor  the  soldier  who  fell  in  the  defense  of  his  country. 
The  best  citizen,  the  best  patriot,  the  best  son  of  his  coun- 


try is  he  who  gives  the  best  manhood  to  his  country.  He 
is  the  man  who  writes  upon  his  nature  the  Ten  Command- 
ments and  the  eight  beatitudes.  You  can  have  a  Grand 
Army  only  when  the  ranks  are  filled  with  grand  men. 
Such  men  our  country  wants  that  its  moral  battles  may 
be  well  fought.  Soldiers  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Re- 
public recognize  the  call  of  the  hour.  Our  nation  calls  for 
hundreds  and  thousands  of  true  men.  There  is  treason 
still  to  be  put  down.  There  is  a  treason  of  cowardly 
silence  when  patriotism  and  duty  call  us  to  cry  out 
against  the  destructive  sins  of  the  land.  This  must  be 
put  down.  There  is  treason  in  the  senate  hall.  There  is 
treason  in  the  political  caucus.  There  is  treason  at  the 
ballot-box  ;  the  selling  of  votes,  and  the  manipulation  of 
votes,  and  the  intimidation  of  voters.  There  is  treason  in 
office,  which  shows  itself  in  the  acceptance  of  rewards  and 
bribes.  It  is  your  duty  to  put  down  treason  in  all  these 
forms.  The  traitor  in  the  time  of  peace  should  be  shot, 
just  as  the  traitor  in  the  time  of  war  was  shot.  He  should 
be  shot  with  the  blackball.  He  should  be  shot  with  the 
cannonball  of  public  indignation  and  execration.  He 
should  be  fired  out  of  office  and  out  of  citizenship,  and 
buried  in  everlasting  oblivion. 

Soldiers  of  the  Republic,  the  battles  of  the  present  are 
identical  with  the  battles  of  the  past.  The  form  of  warfare 
only  is  changed.  The  moral  conflicts  waged  in  our  nation 
are  as  truly  battles  as  were  the  conflicts  of  Gettysburg  and 
Lookout  Mountain.  You  have  a  duty  in  these  as  you  had  a 
duty  in  those.  What  are  the  moral  conflicts  whose  roll  call 
you  should  hear  ?  They  are  such  as  these  :  The  battle  for 
temperance  ;  social  purity  ;  the  right  of  the  red  man,  of 
the  Mongolian  ;  the  battle  of  labor  against  capital,  and  of 
capital  against  labor  ;  the  anti-poverty  battle.  Beside 
these  there  are  the  battles  against  the  deadly  isms  which 
have  been  imported  to  our  land  and  which  are  warring 
against  the  very  life  of  our  nation.  Our  country  is  the 
land  where  the   battles  of  the  future  are  destined  to  be 


104 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


fought,  and  where  they  are  already  opened.  Here  the 
nations  of  the  Old  World  crowd  together  and  meet,  and 
here  the  great  problems  and  questions  of  the  ages  must  be 
debated  and  settled.  Rally  around  the  true  flag  in  these 
moral  battles.  Fire  no  blank  cartridges,  but  pour  hot 
shot  into  every  form  of  evil.  Deal  not  in  feeble  nega- 
tions, but  in  strong,  positive  statements,  and  fire  these 
with  the  power  of  propelling  conviction. 


AT  THE  GRAVES  OF  THE  NATION'S  DEAD. 

Here  sleeps  heroic  dust !  It  is  meet  that  a  redeemed 
nation  should  come,  to  pay  it  homage  at  such  tombs, 
wreathing  the  memory  of  its  patriot  dead  in  the  emblems 
of  grateful  affection.  These  grass-grown  mounds,  these 
flower-decked  graves,  awake  the  memories  of  the  past,  and 
the  history  of  our  nation's  perils  and  its  triumphs  comes 
crowding  on  us  here. 

It  was  an  auspicious  day  when  on  the  22d  of  December, 
1620,  the  Mayflower  landed  at  Plymouth  Rock  its  precious 
freight  of  fugitives  from  tyranny;  while  they  knelt  upon 
the  then  wild  and  inhospitable  shores,  and  consecrated 
America  to  freedom  and  to  God. 

Amid  the  storm  they  sang, 

And  the  stars  heard,  and  the  sea, 

And  the  sounding  depths  of  the  dim  woods  rang. 

To  the  anthem  of  the  free. 

From  Plymouth  Rock  westward  the  march  of  empire  took 
its  way,  until  in  1775,  from  120  souls  all  told,  the  Colonies 
had  grown  to  the  proportions  of  power  equal  to  the  task  of 
successfully  resisting  the  encroachments  of  British  tyranny, 
while  the  immortal  Washington  led  his  trusty  patriot  band 
through  seven  years  of  fierce  storm  to  victory,  and  national 
independence. 

It  was  a  dark  day  in  our  national  calendar  when  a  Dutch 
slave  ship  landed  at  Jamestown,  Va.,  its  freight  of  human 


DECORA  TION  DA  Y. 


105 


chattels  in  evident  contravention  of  heaven's  cherished 
purpose  of  rearing  in  America  a  continental  home  for  liberty, 
and  building  a  national  asylum  for  the  world's  oppressed. 
Slavery  at  length  spread  its  deadly  virus  through  every 
avenue  of  the  body  politic,  until  four  millions  of  God's  poor 
lifted  their  manacled  hands  before  heaven's  high  altar,  and 
impleaded  deliverance.  Priests  and  people  put  their  hands 
on  God's  Bible,  and  at  his  holy  altars  swore  oppression  was 
divine,  while  legislators  essayed  to  send  the  nation  bay- 
ing on  the  blood  marked  footprints  of  the  fleeing  fugitive. 
But  there  were  those  who  heard  and  heeded  the  divine 
injunction  :  **  Proclaim  liberty  through  all  the  land  to  all  the 
inhabitants  thereof."  The  voice  of  Garrison,  of  Phillips,  of 
Wilson,  of  Sunjner,  was  heard  in  the  van,  while  others 
chimed  in,  in  full  chorus,  urging  the  high  behest  of  injured 
justice  :  '*  Let  my  people  go."  Repeated  attempts  to  silence 
the  voice  of  freedom,  both  from  the  rostrum  and  the  pulpit, 
were  heard,  but  signally  failed,  for  there  were  those  who, 
amid  the  prostrate  multitude,  had  not  bowed  the  knee  to 
Baal,  or  worshiped  at  the  bloody  shrine  of  oppression's 
Moloch.  Faithfully  they  sounded  the  notes  of  prophetic 
warning  : 

There  is  a  poor  blind  Sampson  in  this  land. 

Shorn  of  his  strength  and  bound  in  bonds  of  steel, 

Who  may  in  some  grim  revel  raise  his  hand 
And  shake  the  pillars  of  this  commonweal. 

Long  and  loud  was  the  war  of  words  until,  believing  the 
fullness  of  time  had  already  come,  John  Brown  struck 
a  blow  for  liberty  that  shook  as  with  omnipotence  the 
pillars  of  oppression's  pagan  temple  ;  and  though  his  body 
swung  from  a  Virginia  gallows,  his  soul  went  marching  on. 
Defeated  in  the  arena  of  public  strife,  and  refusing  to  brook 
a  barrier  to  the  extension  and  triumph  of  their  peculiar 
ideas  and  institutions,  the  South  rose  in  mad  rebellion,  and 
swore  the  nation  dissolved,  and  the  institutions  of  human 
chattelhood  established  on  the  sure  foundation  of  confed- 


io6 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


erate  independence.  The  echo  of  that  cannon  shot  aimed 
at  the  flag  of  our  national  life  and  liberties,  as  it  waved 
over  Fort  Sumter,  echoed  through  the  land,  setting  the 
heart  of  patriotism  on  fire.  At  the  call  to  arms,  the  yeo- 
man left  his  furrow,  the  mechanic  his  bench,  the  merchant 
his  counter,  the  lawyer  his  brief.  The  parson  left  his  pulpit 
and  the  members  their  pews,  and  all  clad  in  the  nation's 
blue,  wheeled  into  one  common  battle  line,  singing,  *'  We  are 
coming,  Father  Abraham,  a  hundred  thousand  more."  Then 
came  the  hurried  partings,  the  whispered  farewells,  and  away 
to  the  war,  for  the  Stars  and  Stripes  must  be  defended,  and 
our  nation  and  our  liberties  perpetuated  at  whatever  cost 
of  hardship,  of  treasure,  or  of  blood.  The  rival  of  such 
patriotism  the  world  has  never  seen.  At  times  the  nation's 
sun  seemed  growing  dark,  and  portentous  clouds  hung 
heavy  on  all  the  sky.  Thinking  the  nation's  night  had 
come,  beasts  of  prey  with  greedy  howls  crept  forth,  and 
serpents  hissed  the  dying  day. 

But  the  rocket's  red  glare, 
And  the  bombs  bursting  in  air, 
Gave  proof  through  the  night 
That  our  flag  was  still  there, 

borne  up  by  a  million  brave  hearts  and  hands,  with  the 
plighted  vow,  that  though  they  perished  the  nation  should 
live. 

The  immortal  Lincoln  bowed  in  prayer,  and  plead 
Heaven's  almighty  aid,  vowing  the  proclamation  of  freedom 
through  all  the  land  to  all  the  inhabitants  thereof ;  and 
though  the  assassin's  deadly  arm  cut  short  his  high  career, 
his  soul  went  up  to  God  with  four  million  broken  manacles 
in  its  hand.  Amid  the  murky  gloom  the  contest  fearfully 
raged.  Battery  answered  the  thundering  battery,  and  volley 
replied  to  volley,  and  charge  met  charge,  while  a  continent 
trembled  under  the  battle  tread,  and  the  nation  bleeding, 
reeled.  In  the  smoky  distance  dimly  seen,  Grant,  Sherman, 
Sheridan,  Thomas,  Garfield,  and  a  host  of  equally  brave,  led 


DECORA  TION  DA  Y. 


107 


on  to  victory.  At  length  the  heavy  clouds  lift  up  and  vanish, 
the  dust  and  smoke  of  battle  cleared  away,  the  nation's  sun 
rolled  back  to  meridian,  and  poured  its  light  of  promised 
peace  on  all  the  land. 

Alas,  many  who  went  forth  to  the  deadly  fray  returned 
not,  save  encoffined  for  the  tomb,  or  smitten  with  a  mortal 
wound  or  deadly  disease,  which  claimed  their  lives  at  length. 
Over  the  memory  of  these,  we  drop  the  tear  of  affection,  and 
strew  above  their  sleeping  dust  the  fragrant  emblems  of  a 
nation's  undying  gratitude,  and  chant  again  their  funeral 
requiem : 

Oh,  hearts  devoted  !  whose  illustrious  doom 

Gave  there  at  once  your  triumph  and  your  tomb ; 

Ye  firm  and  faithful  in  the  ordeal  tried, 

Of  that  dread  strife  by  freedom  sanctified  ; 

Shrined,  not  entombed,  ye  rest  in  sacred  earth, 

Hallowed  by  deeds  of  mortal  worth. 

What  though  to  mark  where  sleeps  heroic  dust 

No  sculptured  trophy  rise,  or  breathing  bust  ? 

Yours  on  the  scene  where  valors  race  was  run, 

A  prouder  sepulcher — the  field  ye  won  ; 

There  shall  the  bard  in  future  ages  tread, 

And  bless  each  wreath  that  blossoms  o'er  the  dead, 

Pause  o'er  each  warrior's  grass-grown  bed,  and  hear 

In  every  breeze  some  name  to  glory  dear  ; 

And  many  an  age  shall  see  the  brave  repair. 

To  learn  the  hero's  bright  devotion  there. 

American  Wesleyan. 


Let  our  children  know  the  names  and  deeds  of  the  men 
who  preserved  the  Union  ;  let  piety  and  patriotism  sweetly 
unite  in  forming  the  character  of  our  children  that  we  may 
have  a  race  of  loyal  and  noble  Americans  to  carry  forward 
the  triumphs  of  liberty  after  those  who  won  it  have  gone 
to  their  reward. 

R.    S.    MACARTHUR,    D.    D.,    NEW  YORK. 


io8 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  WAR. 

There  are  those  who  intimate  that  blood-letting  is 
healthful  for  nations,  and  that  nothing  but  the  lancet  can 
keep  them  from  plethora,  and  that  frequent  wars  are  neces- 
sary in  order  to  kill  off  the  useless  and  bad  population  of 
the  earth.  That  heathenish  idea  is  utterly  loathsome, 
especially  when  we  remember  that  war  is  indiscriminate 
and  takes  down  the  good  as  well  as  the  bad.  Then  I  think 
the  time  has  come  when  Christian  nations  ought  to  sub- 
stitute arbitration  and  treaty  in  the  place  of  wholesale 
massacre.  A  glance  at  isolated  facts  will  show  the  waste, 
the  desolation,  the  suffering,  the  extermination  of  war. 
When  Napoleon's  army  marched  up  toward  Moscow  they 
burned  every  house  for  150  miles.  Our  Revolutionary  War 
cost  the  English  government  $680,000,000.  The  wars 
growing  out  of  the  French  Revolution  cost  England  three 
thousand  millions  of  dollars.  Christendom,  or  as  I  might 
mispronounce  it  in  order  to  make  the  fact  more  appalling, 
Christ-endom  has  paid  in  twenty-two  years  fifteen  thousand 
millions  of  dollars  for  battle.  Those  were  the  twenty-two 
years,  I  think,  ending  in  1880  or  thereabouts.  The  exor- 
bitant and  exhausting  taxes  of  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States  are  for  the  most  part  resultant  from  conflicts. 
When  we  complain  about  our  taxes,  we  charge  fault  upon 
this  administration  or  that  administration,  upon  this  line  of 
policy  or  upon  that  line  of  policy,  but  it  is  a  simple  fact 
that  to-day  we  are  paying  for  the  shot  and  the  shell,  and 
the  ambulances,  and  the  cavalry  horses,  and  the  batteries, 
and  the  exploded  fortresses,  and  the  broken  bones,  and  the 
digging  of  the  grave-trenches,  and  for  four  years  of  national 
martyrdom.  Edmund  Burke  estimated  that  the  nations  of 
this  world  had  expended  thirty-five  thousand  million  dol- 
lars in  war,  but  he  did  his  cyphering  before  our  great 
American  and  European  wars  were  plunged  into.  He 
never  dreamed  that  in  this  land  in  the  latter  part  of  this 
century  in   four  years  we  should  expend  in  battle  three 


DECORA  TION  DA  V. 


109 


thousand  million  dollars.  But  what  was  all  the  waste  of 
treasure  when  compared  with  the  waste  of  human  life? 
The  story  is  appalling.  In  one  battle  under  Julius  Caesar 
400,000  fell.  Under  Xerxes  in  one  campaign  5,000,000 
were  slain.  Under  Gengis  Khan  at  Herat  1,600,000  were 
slain.  At  the  Nishar  1,747,000  were  slain.  At  the  siege 
of  Ostend  120,000.  At  Acre  300,000,  and  at  the  siege  of 
Troy  1,816,000  fell.  The  Tartar  and  African  war  cost 
108,000,000  lives.  The  wars  against  the  Turks  and  Sara- 
cens cost  180,000,000  lives.  Added  to  all  these  the  millions 
who  fell  or  expired  in  the  hospital  in  our  own  conflict. 

ANONYMOUS. 


THOUGHTS  PERTINENT  TO  DECORATION 

DAY. 

Decorating  Graves  an  Ancient  Custom.— The  cus- 
tom of  decorating  graves  with  flowers  prevailed  among  the 
Greeks  .and  Romans.  Simonides  wrote  (500  b.  c.)  for 
Sophocles'  epitaph  : 

Wind,  gentle  evergreen,  to  form  a  shade 
Around  the  tomb  where  Sophocles  is  laid, 
Sweet  ivy,  wind  thy  boughs  and  intertwine 
With  blushing  roses  and  the  clustering  vine ; 
So  shall  thy  lasting  leaves  with  beauty  hung 
Prove  a  fit  emblem  for  the  lays  he  sung. 

It  is  a  custom  full  of  eloquent  appeals  to  the  heart  of 
sorrowing  survivors,  and  is  fraught  with  such  associations 
as  induce  an  elevation  of  sentiment,  and  a  poetry  of  feel- 
ing adapted  to  modify  our  grief  and  invest  the  sepulcher 
with  the  kindly  emotions  of  hope  and  immortality. 

On  earth,  the  thorns  and  roses  are  blending 
And  beauty  immortal  awakes  from  the  tomb. 

The  bridal  and  the  burial  have  alike  sought  their  richest 
emblems  among  these  fairest  symbols  of  beauty  and  decay. 


no 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


The  old  Romans  not  only  used  flowers  for  personal  decora- 
tion, but  made  them  the  accessories  of  religion.  These 
delicate  emblems  adorned  their  priests,  altars,  and  sacrifices. 
Their  statues  were  crowned  with  them. 

An  Ancient  Custom. — History  records  an  Athenian 
custom,  which  was  to  wreath  with  flowers  the  monuments 
of  those  who  had  fallen  in  battle.  Their  fertile  imaginations 
also  provided  an  Elysium  which  was  especially  set  apart  for 
the  eternal  rest  of  those  who  had  sacrificed  themselves  in 
their  country's  defense.  There  it  was  supposed  or  imag- 
ined that  crystal  streams  from  pure  fountains  always  flowed, 
and  that  the  sweetest  flowers  constantly  bloomed.  Such 
were  the  honors  bestowed  by  a  highly  cultivated  and 
patriotic  people  upon  their  brave  defenders.  The  American 
Nation  has  never  yet  nor  will  it  ever  fail  to  bestow  the 
highest  honors  upon  their  country's  defenders.  The 
memory  of  the  patriots  who  fell  in  our  revolutionary  struggle 
for  our  independence  are  as  fresh  in  the  memory  of  the 
nation  as  it  was  when  our  independence  was  achieved  ;  so 
it  will  be  with  those  who  sacrifice  their  lives  to  maintain  in 
its  integrity  the  Government  which  our  fathers  established 
at  the  expense  of  so  much  blood,  treasure,  and  suffering. 
Human  life  is  not  altogether  measured  by  the  number  of 
years  to  which  it  may  be  prolonged,  but  that  life  is  the  most 
valuable  and  the  longest  which  best  subserves  life's  great^ 
ends.  "  Let  all  the  ends  thou  aim'st  at  be  thy  country's, 
thy  God's,  and  truth's,"  is  a  wise  saying,  and  worthy  of  all 
commendation. 

COL.   CURTIS,   ERIE,    PA. 


Custom  of  the  Ages. — To  commemorate  those  great 
events  which  have  elevated  national  character,  has  been 
the  custom  in  all  ages.  History,  poetry,  and  eloquence 
have  each  vied  in  celebrating  those  exhibitions  of  courage 
which  reflected  so  much  honor  upon  the  republics  of  antiq- 
uity.    Rome,  a  nation  which  surpassed  her  contemporaries 


DECORA  TION  DA  Y. 


Ill 


in  love  of  arts  and  arms,  erected  statues,  and  garlanded 
triumphal  arches  in  honor  of  her  victorious  brave.  It  is 
then  in  conformity  to  an  ancient  custom— the  most  natural 
and  the  deepest  gratitude— that  we  decorate  the  graves  of 
the  heroic  dead,  who  fought  and  fell  that  their  country 
might  survive.  It  is  but  natural  that  flowers  should  give 
expression  to  our  love  for  the  departed  ;  theirs  is  an  oratory 
that  speaks  in  perfumed  silence.  Joy  and  sorrow  have 
their  appropriate  expression  in  these  mute  yet  eloquent 
letters  of  ''  the  blooming  alphabet  of  creation." 

A.  T.  SLADE,  ESQ.,  CLEVELAND,  O. 

The  First  Martyr  to  Freedom.— Chaplain  J.  B. 
Moore,  standing  by  the  grave  of  Corporal  Sumner  H. 
Needham,  Sixth  Regiment,  Mass.,  the  first  martyr  of  the 
war  of  Freedom,  killed  in  the   Baltimore  Riot,  April  19, 

1861,  said  : 

*'  We  are  assembled  to-day  to  call  the  roll  of  the  honored 
dead  anew,  and  to  lay  a  fresh  tribute  of  love  and  gratitude 
upon  their  graves.  The  occasion  is  complete  in  itself.  It 
needs  no  help  of  speech  to  make  it  memorable.  These 
eloquent  flags  waving  at  so  many  headstones,  with  no  stripe 
erased,  and  no  star  obscured  ;  these  bayonets  gleaming  in 
the  sunshine  ;•  these  echoing  cannon,  this  tap  of  drums  ; 
these  beautiful  flowers  borne  by  loving  hands,  contributed 
by  loving  hearts  ;  these  sacred  memories  baptizing  us  all  ; 
speak  to  us  to-day  more  eloquently  than  man  can  speak,  in 
a  language  which  we  can  all  understand.  The  shadow  of 
the  flag  fell  upon  every  home.  The  price  of  that  peace  was 
paid  by  every  heart.  From  every  river,  from  every  hillside, 
from  every  quiet  of  the  village,  from  the  hum  of  the  city, 
from  the  rich  man's  palace,  from  the  poor  man's  cottage, 
from  the  workshop  and  the  warehouse,  from  the  pulpit  and 
the  platform,  from  the  forum  and  the  bench,  from  Congress, 
and  from  all  the  people,  the  defenders  of  the  Government 
had  sprung  ;  and  when,  with  the  music  of  victory,  our 
armies  returned,  the  cypress  was  twined  with  the  laurel  at 


112 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


DECORA  TION  DA  Y, 


"3 


every  hearth-stone,  because  the  long  roll  of  killed,  wounded, 
and  missing  was  answered  by  some  heart  in  every  home. 
This  was  the  significant  fact  of  the  war.  The  army  by 
which  it  was  waged  was  the  army  of  the  people,  created  and 
sustained  and  encouraged  by  the  people,  whose  will  it  was 
sent  to  execute,  whose  government  it  was  pledged  to  main- 
tain. Unlike  the  armies  of  history,  it  was  organized  for  no 
personal  or  sectional  grasp  of  power  or  dominion,  but  for 
the  preservation  of  that  national  integrity  and  unity 
which  had  made  the  United  States  of  America  the  model 
republic  of  the  world." 

The  Aim  and  Object  of  the  War. — AVe  learned  in  the 
days  of  childhood  to  revere  the  memory  of  the  patriots  of 
that  mighty  struggle  which  made  us  an  independent  nation. 
In  our  youth  we  admired  the  specimens  of  their  eloquence 
in  behalf  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  to  secure  which  they 
pledged  their  lives,  their  fortunes,  and  their  sacred  honor. 
From  year  to  year  we  have  met  on  the  ever  glorious  Fourth  of 
July  to  celebrate  our  independence,  and,  with  hearts  aglow 
with  gratitude  and  gladness,  we  have  recounted  their  toils, 
their  trials,  and  their  triumphs.  Many  long  years  passed 
ere  their  hope  of  a  free  and  prosperous  country  was  a  full 
and  crowned  reality.  But  it  came,  when  by  the  ordering  of 
an  allwise  Providence  it  would  be  most  secure.  It  requires 
but  a  glance  at  the  history  of  nations  to  see  that  our  past 
is  without  a  parallel  in  the  increase  of  population,  in  the 
development  of  all  the  resources  of  material  prosperity,  in 
the  progress  of  scientific  research,  in  the  production  of 
literature,  in  the  embellishments  of  art,  and  in  the  perfec- 
tion of  our  civil  institutions.  With  every  demand  for 
statesmanship  we  have  found  the  men  to  conduct  us  in  our 
onward  progress,  till  high  above  all  the  evidences  of  our 
wealth  and  power,  above  all  the  beauties  and  benefits  of 
our  country  and  climate  has  towered  up  this  crowning  fact, 
that  the  teeming  millions  of  our  people  are  the  freest,  hap- 
piest on  earth  ;  and  that  they  enjoy  in  larger  measure  than 


the  world  has  ever  before  known  the  privileges  and  pre- 
rogatives of  true  manhood.  Like  the  old  heroes  and 
heroines  so  justly  celebrated  in  history,  our  fathers  and 
mothers  freely  gave  up  their  best  beloved  on  the  altar  of 
their  country. 

Then  said  the  mother  to  her  son, 

And  pointed  to  his  shield  : 
Come  with  it,  when  the  battle's  done, 

Or  on  it  from  the  field. 

In  the  issues  thrust  upon  us  we  were  made  to  feel  that 
we  were  so  forced  into  the  conflict  that  we  could  not  avoid 
the  war  without  unutterable  dishonor  ;  that  if  we  failed  to 
subjugate  the  rebels  with  the  men  and  means  at  our  com- 
mand,  we  should  justly  expose  ourselves  to  the  contempt  of 
all  nations.     We  fought,  not  for  empire,  not  for  power,  nor 
for  the  love  of  martial  glory,  nor  for  the  gratification  of 
a  vindictive  passion,  nor  even  for  the  abolition  of  slavery— 
that  great  system  of  wrong  which  underlay  the  education 
of  caste,  and  fostered  an  oligarchy  that  would  never  rest 
till   it  culminated  in  the  rebellion— we  fought   simply  to 
preserve  our  own  from  destruction,  that  the  Union  might 
live.     But  God  included  in   the  result  the  liberty  of  the 
bondmen,  of  whom  he  said  by  his  providence,  "  Let  my 
people  go  that  they  may  serve  me."     Accordingly  he  gave 
little  success  to  our  arms  till  emancipation  was  proclaimed, 
not  only  as  a  measure  of  military  necessity,  but  as  an  act  of 
justice.      Regarding  the  situation  and  the  use  our  enemies 
made  of  these  bondmen,  a  soldier  said  :  **  We  are  not  fight- 
ing to  free  the  negroes,  but  we  are  freeing  the  negroes  to 
stop  fighting."     While  we  fought  to  preserve  our  nationality, 
the   divinity  that  shapes  our  ends  determined   the  result 
should  embrace  as  one  people,  living  under  o?ie  govern- 
ment established   by  the  people,  and  maintained  for  the 
people,  the  whole  territory  from  the  chain  of  lakes  on  the 
north,  to  the  great  gulf  on  the  south,  and  reaching  from 
the  Atlantic  wave  to  the  Pacific  surge  ;  and  that  this  whole 


114 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


country  should  be  called  the  United  States  of  America. 
With  the  guiding  hand  of  Providence  so  manifest  in  our 
national  history  as  it  has  been  from  the  time  when  our 
ancestors  landed  on  Plymouth  Rock  or  planted  the  settle- 
ment at  Jamestown,  we  could  but  go  forward,  appealing  to 
the  God  of  battles,  pouring  out  our  treasure  and  our  blood 
till  a  restored  Union  spread  the  protection  of  our  flag  from 
East  to  West,  from  North  to  South. 

/  All  nature  sings  wildly  the  song  of  the  free, 
The  red,  white,  and  blue  float  o'er  land  and  o'er  sea  ; 
The  white  in  each  billow  that  breaks  on  the  shore. 
The  blue  in  the  arching  that  canopies  o'er 
The  land  of  our  birth,  in  its  glory  outspread, 
And  sunset  dies  mingle  the  stripes  of  the  red. 
Day  fades  into  night  and  the  red  stripe  retires, 
But  the  stars  on  the  blue  light  their  sentinel  fires  ; 
And  though  night  be  gloomy  with  clouds  overspread. 
Every  star  keeps  its  place  in  the  arch  overhead  ; 
When  the  storm  is  dispelled,  and  the  tempest  is  through, 
We  shall  count  every  star  on  the  field  of  the  blue. 

REV.    W.    W.    MEECH,    JERSEY    SHORE,    PA. 

Obedience  to  the  Will  of  the  Majority. —  If 
silence  is  ever  golden,  it  must  be  here  beside  the  graves 
of  fifteen  thousand  men,  whose  lives  were  more  signifi- 
cant than  speech,  and  whose  death  was  a  poem  the 
music  of  which  can  never  be  sung.  With  words,  we  make 
promises,  plight  faith,  praise  virtue.  Promises  may  not 
be  kept  ;  plighted  faith  may  be  broken  ;  and  vaunted 
virtue  be  only  the  cunning  mask  of  vice.  We  do  not 
know  one  promise  these  men  made,  one  pledge  they  gave, 
one  word  they  spoke  ;  but  we  do  know  they  summed  up 
and  perfected,  by  one  supreme  act,  the  highest  virtues  of 
men  and  citizens.  For  love  of  country  they  accepted  death, 
and  in  that  act  they  resolved  all  doubts,  and  made  im- 
mortal their  patriotism  and  their  virtue. 

For  the  noblest  man  that  lives  there  still  remains  a  con- 
flict.    He  must  still   withstand   the  assaults  of   time  and 


DECORA  TION  DA  Y. 


"5 


fortune;  must  still  be  assailed  by  temptations  before 
which  lofty  natures  have  fallen.  But  with  these  the  con- 
flict was  ended,  the  victory  was  won,  when  death  stamped 
on  them  the  great  seal  of  heroic  character,  and  closed  a 
record  which  years  can  never  blot. 

The  faith  of  our  people  in  the  stability  and  permanence 
of  their   institutions  was  like  their   faith   in   the   eternal 
course   of   nature.     Peace,  liberty,  and   personal   security 
were  blessings  as  common  and  universal  as  sunshme  and 
showers  and  fruitful  seasons  ;  and  all  sprang  from  a  sm- 
gle  source-the  principle  declared  in  the  Pilgrim  covenant 
of  1620— that  all  owed  due  submission  and  obedience  to 
the  lawfully  expressed  will  of  the  majority.     This  is  not 
one  of  the   doctrines   of   our   political   system,    it   is  the 
system  itself.     It  is  our  political  firmament,  in  which  all 
other  truths  are  set,  as  stars   in  the  heaven.     It   is  the 
encasing   air;    the   breath   of  the   nation's   life.     Against 
this    principle   the    whole    weight  of    the   rebellion    was 
thrown.     Its  overthrow   would    have  brought   such   ruin 
as  might  follow  in  the  physical  universe,  if  the  power  of 
gravitation  were  destroyed. 

I   love  to  believe  that   no  heroic  sacrifice  is  ever   lost. 
That  the  characters  of  men  are  molded  and  inspired  by 
what  their  fathers  have  done— that  treasured  up  m  Amen- 
can  souls  are  all  the  unconscious  influences  of  the  great 
deeds  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  from  Agincourt  to  Bunker 
Hill      It  was  such  an  influence  that  led  a  young  Greek 
two   thousand    years   ago,   when   he   heard   the   news   o 
Marathon,  to   exclaim,  -  The   trophies  of   Miltiades   will 
not  let  me  sleep."     Could  these  men  be  silent  in  1861- 
these,  whose  ancestors  had  felt  the  inspiration  of  battle  on 
every  field  where  civilization  had  fought  in  the  last  thousand 
years  >     Read  their  answer  in  this  green  turf.     Each  for 
himself  gathered  up  all  the  cherished  purposes  of  life- 
its  aims  and  ambitions,  its  dearest  affections-and  flung 
all,  with  life  itself,  into  the  scale  of  battle. 

HON.  JAMES  A.  GARFIELD, 

ARLINGTON.  VA.,  MAY  30,  1868. 


ii6 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION-. 


The  Significance  of  Flowers. — Flowers  are  natural 
tributes  of  sorrow,  emblems  of  affection,  testimonials  of 
remembrance.  We  deck  with  them  the  altars  of  our 
religion  ;  we  garland  with  them  the  bride  of  our  choice  ; 
we  encircle  with  them  the  cradle  of  our  latest  born  ;  we 
garnish  with  them  the  sanctuaries  of  home — why  should 
we  not  scatter  them  on  the  graves  of  the  loved  and  lost, 
and  invest  even  the  cold  sepulcher  with  faithful  symbols 
of  hope  and  immortality  ?  Next  to  that  immortality  which 
conveys  to  us  a  conscious  personal  existence  in  the  assembly 
of  the  just  made  perfect,  no  boon  is  more  coveted  by  the 
thoughtful  mind  than  that  which  insures  us  an  everlasting 
existence  in  the  memory  of  our  fellow  men. 

COL.  HENRY  C.  DEMING,  HARTFORD,  CONN. 


The  Vow  of  the  Soldiers. — As  the  sound  of  that 
cannon  shot  went  echoing  round  the  earth,  what  different 
emotions  were  kindled  in  the  minds  of  men  ?  The  aristo- 
crats, the  Pope,  the  kings,  and  the  emperors  of  the  Old 
AVorld,  with  ill-suppressed  delight  hailed  it  as  the  harbinger 
of  hope  to  themselves,  and  from  it  gathered  assurance  of 
the  long  continuance  of  their  power  and  prerogatives. 
The  oppressed,  and  those  aspiring,  and  those  laboring  for 
the  rights  of  men,  trembled  as  they  feared  that  the  last 
hope  of  an  expecting  world  was  about  to  pass  away  amid 
the  storm  of  battle  and  the  smoke  of  deadly  conflict.  But 
good  and  true  men,  all  through  this  land  of  ours,  were 
roused  as  by  the  shock  of  an  earthquake;  many  a  cheek 
was  blanched  to  utter  paleness,  but  not  with  fear  ;  many 
a  voice  was  tremulous  but  only  on  account  of  indignant 
grief ;  many  a  heart  was  almost  pulseless,  but  only  for  the 
love  it  bore  for  the  dishonored  flag  of  the  Republic.  Then 
came  the  overwhelming  tide,  the  flood,  the  grandest  out- 
burst of  enthusiastic  loyalty  and  patriotic  devotion  which 
the  world  has  ever  known  ;  and  the  great  oath  was  sworn 
by  an  outraged  people,  that  the  nation's  wrongs  should  be 
avenged,  and  liberty  established  throughout  all  our  borders. 


DECORA  TION  DA  V. 


117 


To  fulfill  this  vow,  the  loyal  masses  of  the  land  offered  all 
they  had  of  strength,  and  wealth,  and  life.     To  fulfill  this 
vow,  from  the  battlefields  of  Lexington  and  Concord  and 
Bunker   Hill,  from   Plymouth   Rock,  from  the   hills   and 
valleys  of  the  East,  and   from  the  broad  prairies  of  the 
West,  thousands  of  men  at  their  country's  call,  ''  with  silent 
tongue,  and  clenched  teeth,  and  steady  eye,  and  well-poised 
bayonet,"  went  hurrying  to  the  fields  of  conflict.     To  ful- 
fill  this  vow,  three   thousand   and   more   of  the   bravest 
hearts  that  ever  beat  in  sympathy  with  the  down-trodden 
and  enslaved,  now  silent  rest,  '*  a  fearless  host  in  glory's 
brightest  bed."     To  fulfill  this  vow,  these  men  were  ready 
to  do,  to  endure,  and  to  die,  if  need  be,  upon  the  battle- 
field where  it  is  comparatively  easy  for  the  soldier  to  meet 
his  fate,  or  in  the  hospital  by  swift  or  lingering  disease,  or 
of  starvation  and  torture  inflicted  at  the  instigation  of  the 
infamous  wretches  who  managed  the  affairs  of  the  Rebellion. 

On  fame's  eternal  camping-ground 

Their  martial  tents  are  spread, 
While  glory  guards  with  solemn  round 

The  bivouac  of  the  dead. 

To  honor  such  men  as  these,  who  gave  their  lives  for  the 
cause  they  had  espoused,  we  have  to-day  assembled,  and 
in  the  language  of  the  epitaph  inscribed  to  the  fallen  heroes 
of  Chaeronea,  to  whom,  unlike  our  own,  defeat  instead  of 
victory  was  decreed  : 

These  are  the  patriots  brave,  who  side  by  side 
Stood  to  their  arms,  and  dashed  the  foeman's  pride ; 
Firm  in  their  valor,  prodigal  of  life, 
They  welcomed  death,  the  arbiter  of  strife, 
That  we  might  ne'er  to  haughty  victors  bow, 
Nor  thraldom's  yoke,  nor  dire  oppression  know; 
They  fought,  they  bled,  and  on  their  country's  breast 
(Such  was  the  will  of  Heaven)— those  warriors  rest. 

rev.  (bishop)  w.  f.  mallalieu, 

MOUNT  HOPE  CEMETERY.  DORCHESTER,  MASS. 


ii8 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


Floral  Tribute  to  their  Memory. — We  hear  much 
of  the  language  of  flowers.  With  them  we  crown  the  head 
of  childhood,  and  deck  the  brow  of  beauty.  They  bring  to 
the  sick  chamber  the  cheering  rememberance  of  the  grand 
expanse  of  strength  and  loveliness  that  is  spread  abroad 
without.  They  grace  the  festival.  They  soothe  the  grief 
of  the  funeral.  They  tell  the  deepest  secrets  of  love,  and 
pass  into  the  cells  of  memory,  never  to  be  forgotten.  But 
where  have  flowers  ever  been  applied  by  man  to  a  nobler, 
fitter  purpose  than  by  us  to-day  ?  Have  we  not  done  well 
to  give  the  sweetest  products  of  our  native  land  to  the 
memory  of  those  who  died  to  defend  it  ?  May  not  these 
flowers  best  spend  the  brief  hour  of  their  unassuming  lives 
in  doing  honor  to  heroes,  and  wither  and  meet  death  on  the 
graves  of  the  truest  hearts  that  ever  bled?  Our  heroes 
died  that  there  should  not  be  sunken  in  the  soil  of  this  land 
the  corner  stone  of  an  empire  of  slavery.  They  gave  their 
lives  to  secure  the  soil  of  this  continent  to  the  freedom  and 
the  utmost  elevation  of  aU  human  beings  who  are  to  live 
upon  it.  Well,  then,  may  we  devote  to  their  memory  this 
annual  offering  the  earth  pours  into  our  hands,  in  the 
infinite  prodigality  of  nature  ! 

RICHARD   H.  DANA,  JR.,  CAMBRIDGE,  MASS. 

Each  Grave  a  Hallowed  Shrine. — As  we  honor 
their  patriotism,  emulate  their  example,  glorify  their  hero- 
ism, and  teach  our  children  the  sacredness  of  the  great 
cause  in  which  they  offered  up  their  young  lives,  let  us 
scatter  over  their  graves  the  brightest  beauties  of  life — the 
glad  tokens  of  a  blessed  immortality.  And  may  the  service, 
now  inaugurated,  be  perpetuated  through  each  recurring 
year,  so  long  as  the  Republic  shall  stand  ;  thus  shall 


Each  grave  become  a  hallowed  shrine — a  Mecca  for  men's  feet. 
Around  whose  sacred  bounds  shall  countless  pilgrims  meet, 
To  bless  the  hands  that  struggled,  the  hearts  that  nobly  bled, 
The  soldiers  and  the  sailors — the  stricken,  fallen  dead. 


DECORA  TION  DA  Y. 


119 


Thus  to  the  hero  martyrs-the  brave  who  lived  and  died. 
To  all  who  bled  for  freedom's  cause,  we'll  point  with  holy  pride ; 
And  leaning  o'er  each  silent  bed,  as  here  we  bend  to-day. 
We'll  place  our  choicest  gadands  o'er  their  consecrated  clay. 

CAPT.  GEORGE  S.    MITCHELL,   LAWRENCE,  MASS. 

The  Worth  of  our  Nationality.— It  is  good  for  us 
to  be  here  He  who  reverently  and  gratefully  makes  a  pil- 
grimage to  the  spot  where  lies  the  patriot  soldier,  who  gave 
his  life  for  his  country  and  for  freedom,  and  for  the  expres- 
sion of  those  emotions  places  a  violet  upon  the  soldier  s 
grave,  has  received  a  re-consecration  to  the  work  which 
belongs  to  the  citizen  and  the  patriot.  Recognizing  the 
claim  of  the  soldier  who  fell  for  his  country,  to  be  remem- 
bered  with  honor  and  gratitude,  we  shall  all  more  truly 
estimate  the  worth  of  the  nationality  they  died  to  preserve, 
and  be  better  prepared  to  labor,  and  if  need  be  to  die  in  its 
defense.  ^^^ 

JAMES   BUNKER    CONGDEN,   ESQ., 

NEW  BEDFORD,   MASS. 

The  Nobility  of  Patriotism.-Ii  is  appropriate  and 
iust  that  we  should  thus  commemorate  the  services  of  those 
who  fought  during  this  long  struggle.     All  nations  ancient 
and    modern,   Christian    and    heathen,    have    religiously 
cherished  the  memories  of  those  who  have  fallen  in  the 
military  service  of  their  country.    The  reason  is  obvious  : 
to  peril  life  in  the  national  defense  is  the  severest  test  of 
patriotism,   and  the  spirit  which    prompts  that  sacrifice 
deserves   enduring   honor  ;    while   the    homage   which   it 
receives  educates  and  develops  that  noble  sentiment  which 
is  the  only  security  for  the  continuous  life  of  nations.^  bo 
long  as  its  sons  are  willing  to  die  for  their  motherland  so 
lona  will   it  endure  to   shelter  and   bless  them  and  their 
chirdren      At  the  hour  when  a  people  shall  be  unwilling  to 
abide  this  test,  they   will  find  that  they  have  no  longer 
a  country  worth  saving,  and   those   lives   they    will  have 
deemed  more  valuable  than  honor  and  freedom  transmitted 


120 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


DECORA  TION  DA  Y. 


121 


undimmed  through  centuries  of  glorious  national  life,  may 
prove  to  be  an  intolerable  burden  of  humiliation,  misery,  and 
disgrace. 

Better  to  be  where  the  extinguished  Spartans  still  are  free, 
In  their  proud  channel  of  Thermopylae, 
Than  stagnate  in  the  rnarsh. 

DR.    ROBERT    T.    DAVIS,    FALL    RIVER,    MASS. 

Our  Own  Heroes. — No  longer  will  Americans  look  to 
Greece  or  Rome  for  examples  of  heroism  and  patriotism. 
There  is  not  a  village  or  hamlet  within  the  lines  of  the  loyal 
States  that  cannot  produce  characters  worthy  of  the  best 
and  bravest  of  ancient  times  ;  and  not  only  in  individuals, 
but  in  a  proud  nationality,  has  this  been  developed.  We 
are  indeed  a  nation  !  ^'he  flag  of  our  country  symbolizes 
the  power  of  forty  millions  of  people,  strong  in  the  con- 
sciousness of  duty  to  be  done,  proud  in  the  realization 
of  truth  and  right  vindicated.  And  this  stupendous  fabric 
of  government,  this  beautiful  temple  of  Liberty,  has  for  its 
foundations  the  simple  virtues  of  the  people. 

CAPT.    FITZ.    J.    BABSON, 

GLOUCESTER,  MASS. 

Self-government  Insured. — As  our  forefathers  secured 
the  theory  of  self-government  by  the  bayonet  and  bullet 
between  Lexington  and  Yorktown,  so,  by  the  bayonet  and 
bullet  between  Sumter  and  Appomattox,  have  their  descen- 
dants secured  the  embodiment  of  that  theory  in  all  the 
ramifications  of  our  Government.  After  four  years  of  blood- 
shed and  carnage,  of  agony  and  gloom,  our  people  joyfully 
beheld  the  smoke  of  battle  floating  away,  and  our  beautiful 
land  once  more  bathed  in  the  glorious  sunlight  of  peace. 
The  painful  alternations  of  the  public  mind  between  the 
bouyancy  of  hope  and  the  depression  of  despair — untold 
wealth  dissipated  as  the  morning  dew — and,  far  above  and 
greater  than  all,  an  unnumbered  host  of  dead — these  repre- 
sent the  cost,  mental  and  material,  of  effecting  this  happy 


issue  out  of  our  national  troubles.  National  patriotism, 
when  inspired  by  the  magnetic  influence  of  human  sym- 
pathy, is  the  noblest  of  enthusiasms.  When  Napoleon 
marched  his  army  into  Egypt,  he  urged  his  troops  to  deeds 
of  valor  with  the  appeal,  ''  Soldiers,  forty  centuries  look 
down  upon  you  from  these  pyramids." 

This  precious  slumbering  dust,  when  animate,  leaving 
the  peaceful  pursuits  of  life,  sundering  the  ties  of  friend- 
ship and  love,  and  assuming  the  habiliments  of  the  soldier, 
incurred  exposure,  hardship,  fatigue,  danger,  death,  inspired 
by  no  such  love  of  glory,  but  rather  by  the  consciousness 
which  animated  the  hero  of  Trafalgar,  "Our  country 
expects  every  man  to  do  his  duty."  When  the  Lydian  king 
inquired  of  the  great  Athenian  philosopher  who  was  the 
happiest  among  men,  his  response  was,  that  "  No  man 
should  be  pronounced  happy  till  his  death."  Thrice 
happy,  then,  he  who  incurs  death  because  his  love  of 
country  is  so  broad  as  to  embrace  humanity. 

CAPT.    W.    H.    S.    sweet,  NEWBERN,    N.    C. 

The  Language  of  Flowers.— Venus  was  represented 
wearing  roses,  Juno  with  the  lily,  and  Ceres  was  represented 
with  her  hair  entwined  with  wheat  and  poppies.  With 
cypress  they  decked  the  dwellings  of  the  dead,  because  if 
once  cut  down  it  will  not  spring  up  again.  It  had  a  true 
significance  with  them,  because  they  held  death  to  be  an 
eternal  sleep.  With  a  more  cheering  faith,  we  plant  in  its 
stead  the  evergreen  and  those  redolent  flowers,  whose  roots 
being  buried  rise  again.  Then  do  we  invoke  the  symbolic 
language  of  Flora,  as  the  most  eloquent  of  all  tongues,  and 
with  her  oratory  of  perfumed  silence  tell  alike  of  mother's 
love  or  a  sister's  affection.  No  word  spoken  can  rival  the 
delicacy  of  sentiment  expressed  by  this  vocabulary. 

In  Eastern  lands  they  talk  in  flowers, 

And  they  tell  in  a  garland  their  loves  and  cares  ; 

Each  blossom  that  blooms  in  their  garden  bowers, 
On  its  leaves  a  mystic  language  bears. 


122 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


The  flowers  on  the  grave,  bright  and  fresh,  or  faded  and 
withered,  speak  to  the  heart  in  language  too  plain  to  be 
misunderstood,  and  tell  of  the  changing  nature  of  all  things 
here,  where  '*  we  all  do  fade  as  a  leaf."  The  words  of  men 
die  away  and  are  forgotten.  The  tones  of  the  minstrel  and 
the  cadences  of  the  orator  are  fleeting  as  the  song  of  sum- 
mer birds.  But  the  great  truths  which  God  has  written 
upon  the  flowers  with  which  we  deck  these  graves,  are 
everlasting. 

Hither  may  we  come  from  year  to  year,  as  on  this  May 
day  when  the  earth  is  in  its  richest  sunlight,  and  the  beauty 
and  bounty  of  nature  unite  and  impress  us  with  the  fitness 
of  all  God's  handiwork — here  may  we  come,  laden  with  the 
bright,  beautiful  flowers,  and  as  we  strew  them  upon  the 
graves  of  our  heroic  dead,  repeat  the  story  of  their  self- 
sacrificing  devotion.  Let  us  recount  their  services  and 
their  virtues.  The  eye  shall  kindle  at  the  remembrance. 
The  lip  shall  quiver  at  the  thought.  The  heart  shall  leap 
with  the  emotion.  And  from  these  and  other  soldiers' 
sepulchers  shall  go  out  a  succession  of  patriot  heroes,  and 
shall  perpetuate  their  virtues  while  they  immortalize  their 
glorious  names. 

• 

They  never  fail  who  die 
In  a  great  cause;  the  block  may  soak  their  gore, 
Their  heads  may  sodden  in  the  sun  ;  their  limbs 
Be  strung  to  city  gates  or  castle  walls  ; 
But  still  their  spirit  walks  ahroad.     Though  years 
Elapse,  and  others  share  as  dark  a  doom, 
They  but  augment  the  deep  and  sweeping  thoughts 
Which  overspread  all  others,  and  conduct 
The  world  at  last  to  freedom. 

ANONYMOUS. 


What  was  Gained  by  the  War. — State  rights  :  if  the 
thousands  that  marched  to  the  front  of  battle  had  refused  to 
resist  with  their  lives  this  dogma,  what  to-day  would  our 
country  have  been  ?    What   should  we  have   been?     Our 


DECORA  TION  DA  V. 


123 


Stars  and  Stripes  would  have  been  swept  away,  and  the 
"  Stars  and  Bars  "  would  have  floated  in  their  stead.  Our 
free  schools,  and  free  Bibles,  and  free  pulpits,  and  free 
ministers,  and  free  people,  all,  all  would  have  been  gone — 
gone  to  chains  and  a  vassalage  worse  than  that  of  ancient 
Egypt,  Babylon,  or  Rome  ;  and  to-day  instead  of  decorating 
the  graves  of  our  comrades  fallen  in  glorious  and  honorable 
battle,  we  should  have  been  weeping  in  silence  at  the  grave 
of  Liberty  itself. 

When  we  look  at  our  vast  country  with  all  its  resources 
of  wealth  and  power,  at  our  system  of  free  government  with 
all  the  appliances  for  further  advancement  in  greatness  and 
intelligence,  reaching  as  it  does  from  ocean  to  ocean,  with 
its  fields,  and  mines,  and  streams,  its  hills  and  valleys, 
smiling  in  the  sunlight  of  freedom,  inviting  the  poor  and 
oppressed  of  all  lands  to  come  and  occupy  them,  to  plow 
and  reap,  to  build  and  grow,  and  be  happy — when  we  look 
at  all  this  and  think  what  we  would  have  been  had  the 
Rebellion  proved  a  success,  we  feel  that  our  comrades  did 
not  die  in  vain,  and  we  feel  that  this  is  but  a  small  token, 
indeed,  of  the  love  that  we  ought  to  show  their  memories. 
What  tender  emotions  are  awakened  to-diiy  in  our  minds 
as  we  bend  over  the  silent,  yet  eloquent,  mounds  where  the 
American  soldier  sleeps  his  last  sleep. 

REV.  J.  F.  MEREDITH,  READING,  PA. 


Perpetual  Gratitude  Their  Due. — '*  These  flowers 
are  the  alphabet  of  our  hearts  ;  with  them  we  spell  out 
Faith,  Hope,  Heaven."  Flowers  express  in  their  structure 
and  colors  the  most  delicate  affections  and  appreciations  of 
the  soul,  for  "  the  flower  seems  to  be  the  portion  of  vegeta- 
ble on  which  nature  has  bestowed  the  most  pains.  The 
least  conspicuous  flowers  reveal  under  the  microscope  an 
exquisite  beauty." 

The  heroic  daring  of  the  Federal  soldiers,  their  sublime 
courage,  entitles  them  to  the  perpetual  gratitude  of  their 
countrymen  and  to  the  admiration  of  the  world.     Never  in 


124 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


DECORA  TION  DA  V. 


125 


all  the  martial  contests  of  bygone  times  has  there  been 
such  a  widely  diffused  and  enlightened  patriotism  as 
was  witnessed  in  the  Union  army.  The  purity  of  pur- 
pose, the  solemnity  of  resolve,  the  noble  aspirations  of 
very  many  who  rallied  under  the  Union  flag  have  im- 
mortalized the  national  character  and  ennobled  mankind, 
proving  to  what  sublime  heights  of  thought  and  action 
the  race  may  ascend  under  the  inspiration  of  liberty  and 
nationality.   • 

The  graves  of  the  dead  should  be  adorned  and  shielded 
against  all  desecration.  Nehemiah  mourned  over  the  des- 
olation of  Jerusalem,  the  city  of  the  Great  King.  His 
heart  was  especially  sorrowful  at  the  thought  that  the  sep- 
ulchers  of  his  fathers  should  be  dismantled  and  dishonored. 
As  the  memory  of  the  dead  is  a  natural  outgrowth  of  the 
doctrine  of  immortality,  so  ornamentation  and  care  of  the 
tombs  of  the  dead  is  a  reverential  tribute  of  human  nature 
to  the  Bible  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  both 
of  the  just  and  unjust.  It  is  well,  then,  that  we  look  ten- 
derly  to  the  places  where  our  loved  ones  sleep.  Let  the 
sepulchers  of  the  brave  be  made  worthy  resorts  of  weeping 
freedom.  Let  the  solid  tablet  with  fitting  inscription  upon 
it  brood  over  the  slumbering  body  of  the  fallen  hero.  Let 
the  marble  shaft  spring  above  the  dusty  dwelling  place  of 
the  soldier  of  his  country.  Let  the  morning  and  evening 
sun,  which  shall  greet,  gild,  and  linger  on  its  sides  and  play 
upon  its  summit,  symbolize  the  showering  benedictions  of 
his  countrymen  which  will  stream  from  age  to  age  to  honor 
his  name  and  memory. 

From  age  to  age  the  honorable  fame  of  this  patriotic 
army  will  endure.  It  will  not  decrease,  but  rather  increase 
with  the  flow  of  years.  When  the  passions  of  the  times  are 
stilled  in  the  grave  and  the  men  of  this  generation  have 
passed  away  from  the  earth,  the  gathering  plaudits  of 
coming  generations  will  greet  the  memory  of  the  men  who 
in  a  great  crisis  saved  the  national  life. 

REV.  FRANKLIN  MOORE,  D.  D.,  POTTSVILLE,  PA. 


A  Patriotic  Duty. — One  of  Sir  Walter  Scott's  most 
graphic  sketches  is  of  the  pious  enthusiast,  commonly 
known  as  "  Old  Mortality,"  who  was  wont  annually  to  visit 
the  graves  of  the  heroic  Covenanters,  cleaning  the  moss 
from  the  gray  stones,  and  renewing  with  his  chisel  the  half- 
defaced  inscriptions.  Scott  says  of  him  :  *'  Motives  of  the 
most  sincere,  though  fanciful  devotion,  induced  the  old 
man  to  dedicate  so  many  years  of  existence  to  perform  this 
tribute  to  the  memory  of  the  deceased  warriors  of  the 
church.  He  considered  himself  as  fulfilling  a  sacred  duty, 
while  renewing  to  the  eyes  of  posterity  the  decaying  emblems 
of  the  zeal  and  sufferings  of  their  forefathers,  and  thereby 
trimming,  as  it  were,  the  beacon  light  which  was  to  warn 
future  generations  to  defend  their  religion  even  unto  blood." 
Mutatis  Mutandis^  this  is  our  office,  and  that  of  those  who 
year  by  year  shall  succeed  us  in  this  pious  and  patriotic 
duty,  to  "  let  no  neglect,  nor  ravages  of  time,  testify  to  the 
present  or  to  the  coming  generation  that  we  have  forgotten, 
as  a  people,  the  cost  of  a  free  and  undivided  Republic." 

REV.    WILLIAM    HARRIS,    TOWANDA,    PA. 

The  Voice  of  History. — In  the  meridian  splendor  of 
the  grandest  of  the  ages,  the  most  enlightened  people  on 
the  face  of  the  earth,  professed  believers  in  the  common 
brotherhood  of  man  and  universal  fatherhood  of  God, 
enunciated  a  doctrine  new  and  strange  in  these  centuries  of 
ours,  that  there  is  no  law  higher  than  the  statutes  of  men. 

From  the  banks  of  the  Tiber,  Rome — which  had  *'  rocked 
the  cradle  of  two  civilizations,"  ruled  the  world,  and  gone 
down  to  ruin — conjured  us  by  the  mangled  remains  of  her 
murdered  Tully  ;  and  Greece  through  the  eloquent  lips  of 
her  dying  Demosthenes,  plead  with  us,  to  lay  the  founda- 
tions of  our  governmental  fabric  upon  the  immutable  prin- 
ciples of  justice.  But  the  ceaseless  activity  and  intense 
individuality  of  the  American  mind,  regardless  of  conse- 
quences, and  impatient  of  restraint,  either  human  or  Divine, 
drove  its  plowshare  of  utilitarianism  through  creeds  and 


126 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


DECORA  TION  DA  V. 


127 


\ 


formulas  of  the  past,  hoary  with  age  and  stamped  with 
venerable  authority,  and  from  amid  their  ruins  evoked  a 
new  genius,  with  golden  front  and  sinews  of  iron,  which 
pointed  to  its  railroads  and  telegraphs,  its  mines  of  iron 
and  of  gold,  its  fields  of  coal  and  its  granite  warehouses, 
its  dextrous  agents  dancing  upon   fragile  ropes  above  the 
thunders  of  Niagara,  riding  upon  the  wings  of  the  wind, 
linking  together  continents  by  submarine  cables,  uniting 
oceans  by  isthmus  canals,  and  said,  lo  !  this  is  my  age,  the 
age  of  material  power  and  material  inspiration  ;  and  mad- 
dened by  ambition,  lusting  for   gain,   insatiate  of  power, 
unmindful  or  regardless  of  the  warning  lessons  of  the  past, 
with  more  than  Oriental  devotion  we  knelt  and  worshiped 
at  its  shrine.     In  vain   did  the  voice  of  history  on  the  one 
hand,  thundering  along  the  course  of  ruined  and  desolated 
empires,   pealing  out  from   the   the   buried  grandeur  and 
magnificence   of   the    past,  portray   to   us   the   inexorable 
result   of   national    injustice   and    crime  ;    and  equally   in  ' 
vain  on  the  other  did  the  genius  of  our  republican  institu- 
tions, standing  at  the  golden  gates  of  the  future,  and  hold- 
ing in  her  hands  the  bloody  cerements  of  the  past,  warn  us 
by  the  disastrous  fall  of  other  nations,  great  and  powerful 
as  ours,  to  beware  of  the  whirlpools  and  maelstroms  of  wrong 
and  error  into  which  they  had  fallen,  and  had  sunk  to  rise 
no  more.     But  admonitions  and  warnings  and  consequences 
were  alike  unheeded  ;  forgotten  or  ignored  was  the  great 
law  of  retributive  justice. 

CAPT.    A.    C.    LITTLE,    AURORA,  ILLS. 

Years  will  Increase  our  Appreciation. — Their 
heroic  deeds  take  rank  in  that  grandeur  whose  full  appre- 
ciation requires  the  lapse  of  thoughful  years.  Their  great- 
ness, heartily  as  it  is  recognized  now,  will  grow  more  in 
splendor  as  the  fruits  of  their  victory  shall  fall  in  succes- 
sive years  to  enrich  the  nation's  history.  It  has  happened 
to  them  as  to  all  prominent  actors  in  either  religious  or 
political  contests,  that  the  excellency  of  their  deeds  could 


I    1 
I 


not  be  fully  discovered  until  the  smoke  and  dust  of  battle 
had  been  swept  away.  In  such  time  the  aspirations  of 
slandering  enemies  and  the  jealousy  of  lukewarm  associates, 
and  the  timidity  of  friends  in  faintly  claiming  deserved 
praise,  all  conspire  in  withholding  that  generous  award  of 
honor  which  after  generations  take  delight  in  bestowing. 
Thus  the  generations  to  come  will  continue  the  repetition 
of  the  tributes  to  these  patriots  which  we  have  this  day 
observed,  rehearsing  with  ever  increasing  praise  the  moral 
grandeur  of  their  deeds. 

REV.    MR.    BAUMME,   SPRINGFIELD,    O. 

The  Price  of  National  Life.— In  the  book  of  nature, 
where  every  emotional,  mental,  and  spiritual  quality  of 
humanity  may  find  its  correspondence  and  illustrations, 
flowers  represent  good  affections,  thoughts,  and  intentions 
toward  others.  As  the  flower  precedes  the  fruit,  and  gives 
notice  of  its  coming,  so  good  thoughts,  affections,  and 
intentions  precede  and  give  promise  of  deeds  in  love  to 
others.  These  cherished  dead  are  now  beyond  the  reach 
of  our  good  deeds  ;  to  bring  fruits  to  them  would  be  vain, 
but  to  indulge  good  thoughts  and  affections  toward  them 
should  enlarge  our  souls  and  wake  in  our  breasts  a  more 
vigorous  determination  to  sacrifice  ourselves  for  the  good 
of  others.  The  indulgence  in  such  thoughts  and  intentions 
may  lead  us  so  to  act  and  speak  that  those  who  come  after 
us  will  be  encouraged  by  our  instruction  and  example  to 
sacrifice  themselves  if  need  be,  when  the  good  of  the  country 
and  liberty  shall  demand  it. 

Why  were  these  brave  men  sacrificed  ?  Nothing  more 
or  less  than  to  settle  an  error  in  statesmanship.  By  false 
teaching,  two  conflicting  ideas  were  taught  among  the 
people  and  arrayed  them  in  hostile  parlies.  This  is  no 
time  or  place  to  discuss  political  questions,  but  lest  I  be 
misunderstood,  let  me  say,  that  this  conflict  on  one  side, 
was  that  we  were  not  a  nation,  but  a  confederation  of  sov- 
ereign States,  which  at  all  times  have  the  right  to  withdraw 


128 


THOUGHTS  FOR   THE  OCCASION. 


DECORA  TION  DA  Y. 


129 


from  the  Union.  On  the  other  side  it  was  contended  that 
the  United  States  has  a  nationality,  a  common  constitution, 
a  common  flag,  with  a  government  having  the  right  to 
enforce  its  own  laws  and  preserve  its  existence  by  force 
against  all  enemies,  within  or  without.  These  two  ideas 
moved  the  contending  hosts  on  the  battlefields  of  the  late 
terrible  conflict  of  arms.  By  the  sword  it  decided  that  we 
have^  common  country,  a  common  flag,  and  that  the  Union 
of  these  States  is  not  a  rope  of  sand,  but  a  bond  so  strong 
that  no  foe  can  break  it.  Let  us  all  then  accept  the  teach- 
ings of  the  hour,  expel  from  our  minds  the  fallacy  it  has 
cost  so  much  to  settle,  aud  here  by  the  graves  of  these 
martyrs  to  liberty— inspired  by  the  sacrifices  they  have 
made,  resolve  that  cost  what  it  may  this  "  Union  shall  be 
preserved." 

All  people,  in  all  ages,  of  all  nationalities  and  religions, 
have  ever  paid  the  highest  respect  and  honor  to  the 
memories  of  those  who  died  for  their  country,  for  liberty, 
and  the  rights  of  man.  They  have  been  the  heroes  and 
demigods  before  whom  the  people  have  bowed  down  and 
worshiped.  And  the  feelings  which  prompt  this  reverence 
are  not  irreligious.  It  is  but  an  acknowledgment  of  the  great 
service  and  sacrifice  of  such  as  were  willing  to  become 
martyrs  for  the  good  of  the  people.  It  seems  to  be  so 
ordered  in  the  economy  of  this  world,  that  no  great  and 
lasting  good  can  be  accomplished  but  at  the  cost  of  great 
sacrifices.  We  cannot  tell  why  this  should  be,  but  history 
proves  the  truth  of  the  assertion.  No  people  ever  secured 
their  liberty  and  established  free  institutions,  but  by  the 
shedding  of  blood.  The  ancient  republics  renowed  in  his- 
tory, and  the  empires  which  have  swayed  the  destinies  of 
the  world,  reached  their  success  and  greatness  through 
seas  of  blood.  And  all  the  kingdoms  and  empires  of 
modern  times  which  have  become  great  and  powerful,  have 
reached  their  pre-eminence  through  the  blood  of  their  citi- 
zens,  flowing  for  centuries  until,  as  it  were,  it  reached  to 
the  bridle-bits  of  the  horses  of  the  warriors. 


:/ 


I 


/ 


This  is  the  fearful  price  of  national  life,  vitality,  and 
power,  of  the  supremacy  of  law  and  order,  and  the  pre- 
dominance of  right  over  lawless  might  and  mob  violence. 
Our  own  Republic  was  established  after  eight  long  years 
of  bloody  strife.  Though  the  great  name  of  Washington 
has  seemed  to  eclipse  all  others,  yet  in  the  hearts  of  the 
people,  Warren  and  his  fallen  compatriots  are  cherished  as 
the  real  saviors  of  the  country.  And  when  we  look  back 
over  the  record  of  that  great  struggle,  we  find  the  names  of 
many  who  have  made  its  battlefields  illustrious  by  their 
heroic  death.  Without  the  shedding  of  their  blood,  with- 
out the  noble  sacrifice  of  those  great  and  good  men  who, 
uninfluenced  by  selfishness,  but  prompted  only  by  a  love  of 
country,  and  a  desire  to  promote  the  welfare  of  their  fel- 
low men,  willingly  laid  down  their  lives,  the  establishment 
of  the  American  Republic  could,  never  have  been  accom- 
plished. As  the  first  period  of  our  history  opened  amid 
the  fires  of  the  Revolution,  so  the  second  has  been  inaugu- 
rated amid  the  carnage  of  the  greatest  battlefields  of  the 
world.  Before  we  could  enter  upon  the  stage  of  this  new 
era,  and  fulfill  its  destiny,  it  seemed  to  be  necessary  that 
we  should  pass  through  this  second  baptism  of  fire  and 
blood,  to  fit  us  for  the  accomplishment  of  our  great  and 
responsible  duties. 

The  light  that  shines  from  a  patriot's  grave  is  a  pure  and 
holy  light,  and  while  we  are  guided  by  it  we  shall  never  go 
into  the  paths  of  treason  and  rebellion.  Let  that  light 
illuminate  our  pathway,  and  the  noble  example  of  the  dead 
strengthen  our  love  of  country  and  devotion  to  duty.  ( 
When  patriotism  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  is  dead,  all  is  '- 
lost.  It  is  the  life-blood  and  soul  of  the  national  existence, 
the  animating  fire  which  makes  a  people  great,  and  their 
history  grand  and  beautiful.  When  we  no  longer  have 
brave  men  who  are  willing  to  fall  in  defense  of  their 
country,  and  have  women  willing  to  sustain  them  in  the 
conflict  ;  when,  if  ever,  we  are  compelled  to  rely  upon  a 
hireling  and  mercenary  soldiery  to  defend  our  liberties, 


130 


THOUGHTS  FOR   THE  OCCASION". 


m 


DECORA  TlON  DA  V. 


131 


we  will  have  no  liberties  worth  defending,  and  our  institu- 
tions will  soon  perish  and  decay.  When  the  Romans 
fought  their  own  battles,  they  controlled  the  destinies  of 
the  world.  When  they  came  to  depend  upon  a  mercenary 
army,  they  became  slaves,  and  the  empire  of  the  world 
passed  from  their  hands  into  that  of  barbarians. 

REV.    HOMER   EVERETT,    TREMONT,  0. 

Soldiers  from  a  Sense  of  Duty. — Many  and  great 
were  the  trials  of  the  country.  Fear,  as  it  were,  oscillated 
between  doubts  of  competency  on  the  one  hand  and 
patriotism  on  the  other,  in  those  to  whom  the  country  had 
intrusted  its  sword.  We  hardly  knew,  at  times,  whether 
there  was  more  to  fear  from  the  enemy  in  arms,  than  the 
treachery  which  lurked  in  the  bosoms  of  some  who  were 
the  nation's  captains.  It  is  one  of  the  most  incomprehensi- 
ble problems  of  history,  that  the  cause  of  human  liberty 
should  be  so  frequently  betrayed  by  the  treachery  of  pro- 
fessed adherents.  Caesar,  the  people's  idol,  and  one  of  the 
great  captains  of  the  Roman  Empire,  overturned  the  liber- 
ties of  his  country.  Gorgey  threatened  the  aspirations  of 
Hungary  in  1848  ;  and  Louis  Napoleon,  chosen  by  the 
people  as  the  President  of  the  French  Republic,  like  a 
viper,  stung  to  death  the  virtuous  confidence  that  warmed 
him  into  existence.  These  lessons  of  history,  recalled  by 
circumstances  that  but  too  plainly  justified  the  suspicions 
they  awakened,  kept  the  public  mind  in  a  continual  state  of 
anxiety  and  dread.  Fortunately,  the  country,  in  its  great 
struggle  for  life,  was  saved  from  the  ruinous  consequences 
of  such  base  betrayals  as  is  furnished  in  the  history  of  other 
nations  ;  and  the  reason  is  to  be  found  in  the  virtue  and 
intelligence  of  the  citizen  soldiery,  upon  whom  the  nation 
relied  as  its  right  arm  of  defense.  With  such  a  soldiery, 
the  Rubicon  could  not  be  crossed,  because  they  were  more 
attached  to  the  institutions  of  their  country  than  to  the 
name  of  any  military  chieftain.  They  followed  their  flag, 
and  were  but  little  dazzled  by  the  pomp  of  military  splendor. 


They  were  soldiers  from  a  sense  of  duty,  and  ever  anxiously 
looked  forward  to  the  day  when  they  could  in  peace  return 
to  the  quiet  of  their  homes  and  the  enjoyment  of  their 
liberties. 

Soldier,  rest,  thy  warfare's  o'er, 
Sleep  the  sleep  that  knows  no  waking. 
Dream  of  battlefields  no  more. 
Days  of  danger,  nights  of  waking. 

Sleep,  soldier,  sleep  !  from  sorrow  free, 

And  sin  and  strife.     'Tis  well  with  thee  } 

'Tis  well ;  though  in  that  far  off  land,  not  a  single  tear 

Laments  the  brave,  the  buried  volunteer. 

capt.  t.  a.  minshall,  chillicothe,  o. 

If  Principles  were  not  at  Stake  the  War  was 
Useless. — If  the  crimes  by  which  we  were  wronged  so  much 
should  be  forgotten,  the  past  suffering  of  the  living  and  the 
dead  were  worse  than  wasted,  and  revolutions  and  war 
become  but  a  contest  between  life  and  death  for  the 
mastery,  in  which  death  comes  off  more  than  victor ; 
patriotism  would  be  valueless,  and  the  defenders  of  justice 
die  without  reward.  If  it  was  not  for  principles  we  fought, 
and  if  those  principles,  and  their  friends  and  enemies,  be 
not  remembered,  our  struggle  has  been  useless,  both  as  a 
defender  of  good  and  an  exponent  of  evil. 

gen.  JOHN  C.  p.  shanks,  PORTLAND,  IND. 

Our  Defenders  not  Forgotten. — Will  a  great  people 
forget  its  defenders  ?  Will  the  lovers  of  liberty  around  the 
globe  let  their  fame  cease  who  saved  the  citadel  of  Freedom 
in  the  darkest  hour  ?  No  !  the  glory  of  their  fame  is 
undying  !  The  little  mound  of  Marathon,  where  slumber 
the  Greeks  who  saved  the  world  from  Asiatic  barbarism,  is 
a  holier  spot  than  the  site  of  city  or  pyramid  or  palace  ; 
and  while  civilization  endures,  the  glory  of  that  little  band 
will  outshine  the  pomp  of  kings  and  the  pride  of  luxury 


132 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION. 


DECORA  TION-  DA  V. 


133 


and  power.  Time  will  come  when  the  common  consent  of 
humanity  will  number  our  dead  comrades  among  the 
heroes  and  benefactors  of  mankind  ;  when  the  green 
mounds  above  them  will  be  known  as  true  altars  of  patriot- 
ism and  liberty  ;  when  patriots  of  all  nations  and  climes 
shall  gather  new  inspiration  at  their  graves — and  recognize 
how  enduring  is  the  fame  of  those  who  bravely  die  in  the 
cause  of  Right  and  Justice  and  their  country.  Time  will 
destroy  the  marble  of  our  tombs.  No  chiseled  epitaph  can 
survive  his  attack.  The  steel  of  our  bayonets  must  perish. 
But  there  is  a  shrine  in  the  temple  of  ages,  where  lie  forever 
embalmed  the  memories  of  such  as  have  deserved  well  of 
their  country  and  their  race. 

COL.  JOHN  MASON  BROWN,  FRANKFORT,  KY. 

Contrasts  of  Peace  and  War. — It  is  a  remark  of  the 
Father  of  History,  in  his  book  inscribed  to  Clio,  that  in 
peace  children  bury  their  parents,  but  that  in  war  parents 
bury  their  children.  The  sentiment  is  not  less  just  than  is 
the  Greek  perspicuous  in  which  Herodotus  told  it.  It  is  a 
wise  provision  of  Divine  Providence  that  we  can,  in  pensive 
sorrow,  lay  to  rest  our  aged  parents  crowned  with  years  and 
honors.  The  burst  of  anguish  soon  dies  away  into  tender 
recollection,  but  when  age  brings  its  treasures  to  the  early 
tomb,  then  the  heart  is  inconsolable  ;  it  is  "  Rachel  weeping 
for  her  children,  and  refusing  to  be  comforted,  because  they 
are  not." 

ROBERT  graham,  D.  D.,  LEXINGTON,  KY. 

Representatives  of  Public  Virtue. — With  no  jeal- 
ousies to  indulge  and  no  envy  to  gratify,  we  seek  to  draw  a 
lesson  from  the  past  that  shall  be  to  our  future  a  beacon 
and  a  guide.  To  the  sleeping  martyrs,  whose  graves  billow 
every  battlefield,  it  matters  little  what  we  may  now  say  or 
do.  Our  tender  offerings  of  affection  will  be  lost  upon  their 
mounds,  and  the  sweet  aroma  of  our  scented  flowers  be 
uselessly  exhaled  to  air,  save  as  we  revive  our  faith  in  the 


doctrines  which  they  defended,  and  our  zeal  in  the  cause 
for  which  they  died.  They  were  the  representatives  of 
that  public  virtue  which  is  the  corner  stone  and  mainstay 
of  our  temporal  existence.  It  was  the  sentiment  that 
Montesquieu  called  a  sensation,  and  not  a  mere  conse- 
quence of  acquired  knowledge — common  alike  to  the  low- 
liest and  loftiest  member  of  the  State.  It  was  the  same 
sentiment  that  Leonidas  felt  when  he  fell  at  Thermo-l 
pylae  ;  which  solaced  Aristides  when  exiled  from  Greece  ; 
which  the  soldier  of  the  Revolution  felt  when  he  tracked 
with  his  blood  the  snows  of  Valley  Forge  ;  which  Patrick 
Henry  illustrated  when  he  invoked  "liberty  or  death"; 
which  actuated  Adams  when  declaring  **  sink  or  swim,  live 
or  die,  survive  or  perish,  I  am  for  the  Declaration  "  ;  and 
which  these  our  soldiers  felt  when,  leaving  home  and 
friends  and  comfort  and  safety,  they  invoked  hunger 
and  captivity,  disease  and  death.  More  speedy  than 
argument  and  more  powerful  than  cannon,  it  bore  our 
impulsive  legions  over  fields  so  sanguinary  and  through 
conflicts  so  vast,  that  the  archangel  of  war  thereupon  made 
new  record  of  human  prowess.  The  integrity  of  the  nation 
has  been  assailed,  and  from  the  fountain  of  love  of  country 
came  the  inspiration  for  its  defense.  The  sentiment  was 
not  of  party.  It  rebelled  at  the  mention  of  a  divided  land, 
and  threw  all  of  existence  into  the  idea  of  unity.  Not  so 
powerful  was  the  flaming  cross  of  Constantine,  or  the 
victorious  eagle  of  Napoleon. 

We  can  never  forget  to  commemorate  the  deeds  of  those 
who  perished  to  achieve  this  sublime  result.  Their  memories 
are  sacred,  and  the  holiest  benedictions  of  their  favored 
countrymen  will  ever  follow  a  mention  of  their  virtues. 
For  the  monument  of  Thermopylae,  where  fell  the  brave 
three  hundred,  Leonidas  wrote  this  epitaph:  ''  Stranger,  go 
and  tell  in  Lacedoemon  that  we  fell  here  in  defense  of  her 
laws."  With  greater  cause  for  greater  gratitude,  let  us  tell 
to  future  time  the  story  of  our  comrades'  deeds  with  a 
monument  that  shall  say,  **  Pilgrim  or  citizen,  go  and  pro- 


I 


134 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION: 


DECORA  TION  DA  Y. 


135 


claim  through  the  limits  of  the  nation,  that  we,  soldiers  of 
the  Republic,  fell  in  defense  of  its  laws,  its  liberties,  and  its 
life,"  As  the  statue  of  Themistocles,  from  a  promontory  in 
Greece,  long  greeted  the  returning  voyager,  and  fired  anew 
his  love  for  Attica  and  Athens,  so  let  our  far-reaching 
columns  of  storied  marble  and  animated  bronze  bear  vitaliz- 
ing testimony  to  the  glory  of  our  soldiery  from  the  parapets 
of  the  Pacific  to  the  green  hills  of  New  England.  Make  of 
wood  the  arches  of  triumph  which  mark  our  fields  of  battle, 
if  it  must  be,  that  the  memory  of  a  civil  strife  may  not  be 
continued  to  another  generation  ;  but  for  the  soldier  who 
knew  no  sentiment  but  love  for  his  country,  and  who  gave 
his  life  to  duty  in  its  defense,  the  eternal  granite  should 
bear  to  posterity  the  hallowed  record.  And  as  we  engrave 
thereon  the  virtues  of  the  dead  let  us  add,  in  characters  of 
bold  relief,  that  universal  freedom  to  man  came  as  the 
corollary  of  devotion  to  our  land  :  they  died  that  all 
might  go  free.  Of  all  the  results  of  war,  no  richer  boon 
ever  graced  the  trophies  of  the  victor. 

Where  freedom  is,  no  man  is  poor ; 
For  nature's  air  is  affluence  to  all. 

COL.  JOHN  p.  JACKSON,  NEWPORT,  KY. 

Heroic  Devotion  Merits  Reward. — To  say  that  they 
died  a  glorious  death  would  be  saying  little,  for  the  same  is 
said  of  those  who,  following  the  lead  of  vain  and  greedy 
conquerors,  found  their  graves  among  the  enslaved  nations, 
slaves  themselves  to  the  selfish  and  despotic  will  that  ruled 
them.  For  our  dead  we  have  a  higher  praise.  It  was  not 
enforced  obedience  to  the  command  of  a  tyrant  that  dragged 
them  from  their  homes  ;  not  the  lust  of  conquest,  nor  the 
scarcely  nobler  thirst  for  glory.  When  the  life  of  the  nation 
was  attempted,  when  the  cause  of  liberty  and  human  rights 
called  for  their  aid,  they  rushed  forth  to  rally  under  the 
banner  they  loved,  with  grand  singleness  of  purpose  and 
heroic  devotion — leaving  all  behind  them,  to  meet  toil  and 


«V 


danger,  hunger,  sickness,  wounds,  and  death,  for  nothing 
but  the  sublime  satisfaction  of  doing  their  duty  to  their 
country  and  to  mankind. 

GEN.  CARL  SCHURZ,  ST.  LOUIS,  MO. 

The  Great  Lesson  of  the  Age. — War  is  no  part  of  our 
business,  nor  of  the  nation's  ;  yet  it  is  wise  to  keep  alive 
and  vigorous  the  spirit  of  patriotism.  "  Eternal  vigilance 
is  the  price  of  liberty  ":  and  it  is  not  impossible  that,  in 
the  future  as  in  the  past,  the  fair  goddess  of  freedom  may 
be  stricken  down,  and  her  starry  banner  trailed  in  the  dust. 
But  we  point  out  to  posterity,  through  this  memorial  service, 
the  blood  marks  of  the  foulest  rebellion  that  blackens  the 
pages  of  a  thousand  years.  And  we  give,  year  by  year,  a 
fresh  reminder  that,  when  the  slave  power  raised  its  hideous 
black  hand  and  brandished  its  bloody  knife,  threatening 
the  life  of  the  nation,  a  million  of  freemen,  sturdy  sons  of 
toil  and  industry,  left  their  peaceful  avocations,  and  leaped 
into  bristling  ranks  of  armed  soldiery  ;  and  every  sword 
and  bayonet  was  the  centering  point  of  high  resolve  to  save 
the  nation,  and  hand  down  her  free  institutions  to  all  future 
time,  or  die  at  the  post  of  duty  in  the  mighty  conflict.  Let. 
the  rising  generation  be  thrilled  and  inspired  with  the  liv- 
ing sentiment  of  this  great  lesson  of  the  age,  and  be  imbued 
with  its  spirit,  and  hand  it  down,  renewing  and  renewed, 
from  generation  to  generation. 

MR.  H.  a.   REID,  RACINE,  WIS. 

Glorious  in  Deeds. — The  monument  at  the  pass  of 
Thermopylae  bore  the  inscription,  **  Go,  stranger,  and  tell 
at  Lacedaemon  that  we  died  for  our  country  and  in 
obedience  to  her  laws."  The  memory  of  her  heroic 
deeds,  and  of  the  heroic  men,  lives  in  immortal  freshness, 
though  the  names  have  not  been  recorded.  And  so  it 
will  be  with  our  heroes  though  they  have  passed  from 
sight. 


I3<5  THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 

The  muffled  drum's  sad  roll  has  beat 

The  soldier's  last  tattoo; 
No  more  on  life's  parade  shall  meet 

The  brave  but  fallen  few. 

On  fame's  eternal  camping  ground 

Their  silent  tents  are  spread, 
And  glory  guards  with  solemn  round 

The  bivouac  of  the  dead  ! 

HON.  THEODORE  ROMEYN,  DETROIT,  MICH. 

A  Tribute  to  Martyrs. — It  is  befitting  on  this,  the 
anniversary  of  the  great  decisive  battle  of  the  rebellion 
(Gettysburg),  to  offer  some  tribute  to  the  martyrs  of  our 
Union,  and  to  estimate  the  importance  of  their  achieve- 
ments. The  destiny  of  Athens  was  determined  on  the 
plain  of  Marathon.  Miltiades,  with  his  few  Athenians, 
checked  the  invading  Persians,  turned  their  advance  into  a 
retreat,  and  not  only  Athens,  but  the  independence  of 
ail  Greece  was  secure.  At  the  battle  of  Waterloo  the 
destiny  of  Europe  was  in  the  scale.  "  Waterloo  is  the 
hinge  of  the  nineteenth  century."  The  disappearance  of 
Napoleon  was  necessary  for  the  advent  of  the  great  century 
and  the  peace  of  the  Continent.  His  dictatorship  was 
ended,  his  conquests  ceased,  the  cause  of  liberty  triumphed, 
and  a  new  era  dawned  upon  Europe. 

At  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  the  destiny  of  America,  the 
success  of  the  republican  form  of  government,  were  in  the 
balance.  Three  long  days  our  gallant  soldiers,  champions 
of  freedom,  fought  the  desperate  foe  ;  three  anxious  days 
the  momentous  issues  oscillated  in  the  balance  ;  but  at 
the  close  of  the  third  day  our  destiny  was  sealed  :  the  Con- 
federates were  driven  back  in  dismay,  the  backbone  of  the 
Rebellion  was  broken,  its  destruction  decreed,  Philadelphia 
and  Washington  were  safe,  the  Union  was  secured,  and 
liberty  triumphant ! 

The  destinies  of  nations  and  ages  are  often  decided  in 
a  day.    Who  can  estimate  the  results  of  decisive  battles 


DECORA  TION  DA  Y 


137 


between  conflicting  armies  and  opposing  ideas?  In  the 
Punic  wars  had  Carthage  been  successful  instead  of  her 
rival  Rome,  the  imperial  city  would  have  been  razed  to  its 
foundations,  the  theater  of  civilization  would  have  been 
shifted  from  Europe  to  Africa,  and  the  history  of  the 
whole  world  have  been  changed.  Had  the  Persians  been 
victorious  at  Marathon,  Athens  would  have  fallen,  and  the 
world  would  never  have  known  the  classic  glory  of  Greece. 
Had  Napoleon  triumphed  at  Waterloo  the  thrones  of 
Europe  would  have  been  shaken  and  the  balance  of  power 
lost.  And  had  the  Confederates  been  victorious  at  Gettys- 
burg and  the  rebellion  triumphant,  *'  the  government  of  the 
people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people,"  would  have 
perished  from  the  earth,  our  nation  would  have  been 
blotted  out,  liberty  would  have  died,  and  the  history  of 
all  succeeding  ages  been  revolutionized  !  Such  were  the 
calamities  averted  by  the  gallant  men  whom  we  have  met 
to  honor.  It  becomes  us  as  devoted  citizens  on  this  his- 
toric day  to  repair  to  the  silent  city  of  the  dead  and  strew^ 
the  graves  of  our  fallen  soldiers  with  choicest  flowers ;  and 
chanting  grateful  paens,  shed  tears  of  patriotic  remem-J 
brance,  and  thank  God  for  such  noble  men,  martyrs  for^ 
freedom,  who  suffered  that  posterity  might  rejoice  ;  who'/ 
bled  that  liberty  might  be  perpetual ;  who  died  that  our 
country  might  live  !  It  would  be  base  ingratitude,  dastardly 
meanness,  to  pass  them  by  unnoticed,  and  consign  their 
deeds  and  their  memories  to  the  cold  waters  of  oblivion. 

Never  did  a  soldier  fight  for  a  nobler  end,  bleed  for  a 
grander  idea,  or  die  for  a  better  cause.  On  the  field  of 
Gettysburg  no  new  issue  was  contested.  It  was  the  same 
old  conflict  that  has  been  waged  in  all  nations  and  in  all 
ages.  "  History  repeats  itself."  The  same  spirit  of  oppres- 
sive oligarchy  has  often  deluged  the  nations  in  blood.  It 
was  the  irrepressible  conflict  of  antagonistic  principles.  It 
was  the  mad  effort  of  the  minority  to  rule  or  ruin  the 
majority.  It  was  the  marshaling  of  treason  against  loyalty, 
of  aristocracy  against  democracy,  of  slavery  against  free- 


138 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


dom.  The  rebels  received  the  sympathy  of  the  world's 
despots  ;  the  Union  cause,  the  sympathy  and  prayers  of 
every  lover  of  liberty.  Tyranny  desired  to  crush,  humanity 
to  sustain  our  Government.  The  Confederates  sought  to 
destroy  the  Union,  and  to  raze  this  grand  temple  of  liberty — 
the  refuge  of  the  oppressed,— to  its  foundation.  But  their 
cause  was  tried  before  the  Infijiite,  and  \.\it\x  failure  decreed. 
Under  the  blessing  of  God,  our  soldiers  have  demonstrated 
to  the  world  that  our  Union  is  not  a  rope  of  sand  ;  that  the 
Republican  form  of  Government  is  not  a  failure  ;  that  our 
Government  has  strength  to  put  down  mighty  rebellions, 
and  that  the  people  are  capable  of  governing  themselves. 
All  honor,  then,  to  our  soldiers,  who  fought  with  more 
than  Spartan  bravery  the  wicked  forces  of  disunion,  saved 
the  Republic y  and  liberated  the  race  I 

J.  C.  PATTERSON,  MARSHALL,   MICH. 

Our  Country's  Gallant  Dead  !— Let  us  cherish  their 
memories  and  treasure  up  their  deeds  !  Let  us  gather 
their  ashes  into  the  urn  of  immortality,  and  write  every 
name  on  the  national  roll  of  honor!  Our  country's  soil 
gives  them  all  sepulture.  They  sleep  beneath  the  Stripes 
and  Stars,  revered  by  a  race  freed  from  bondage,  and  the 
liberty-loving  masses  of  the  whole  world. 

Each  soldier's  name 
Shall  shine  untarnished  on  the  roll  of  Fame, 
And  stand  the  example  of  each  distant  age, 
And  add  new  luster  to  the  historic  page. 

REV.  JOSEPH  H.  TWICHELL,  HARTFORD,  CONN. 

The  Destruction  of  Liberty  the  Darkening  of 
Christianity. — As  far  back  as  the  history  of  the  world 
reaches  we  find  that  whenever  the  sword  has  entered  any 
free  and  enlightened  nation  to  destroy  it,  as  the  nation 
suffered  so  has  its  civilization  and  Christianity.  Turn  your 
eyes  to  the  Old  World  and  glance  over  its  pages  of  history, 
and  there  you  will  find  this  truth  verified  :  that  wherever 


DECORA  TION  DA  V. 


139 


rebellion  has  destroyed  governments  liberal  in  their  forms, 
civil  and  religious  liberty  has  been  blighted.  Once  the 
honor  most  esteemed  by  enlightened  and  brave  men  was  to 
be  called  a  Roman  citizen.  Rome  was  the  mistress  of 
nations  and  for  a  time  a  mighty  republic,  the  home  of  free- 
dom, civilization,  and  culture.  But  what  is  it  now?  A 
pile  of  majestic  ruin — records  of  its  departed  greatness. 
And  so  with  other  nations.  Italy,  once  a  proud  and  inde- 
pendent people,  now  a  nation  of  organ  grinders  and  peddlers. 
Athens,  once  the  seat  of  learning,  now  lives  only  in  its 
ruins  and  history.  Jerusalem,  the  holy  city  and  seat  of  the 
Christian  religion,  is  now  in  the  hands  of  Oriental  bigots. 
The  verdict  of  history  is  that  where  liberty  is  destroyed 
Christianity  sinks  into  darkness. 

Then  as  oft  as  the  30th  of  May  returns  with  time's  annual 
round  let  a  grateful  nation  remember  its  dead,  and  with  a 
floral  offering  decorate  the  tombs  of  its  fallen  heroes,  while 
the  dropping  tear  moistens  the  cold  sod  that  covers  their 
sleeping  dust.  To  them  we  owe  the  liberty  we  enjoy  ;  to 
them  we  owe  the  preservation  of  our  institutions  ;  and  shall 
we  not  hold  them  in  grateful  remembrance  ?  And  though  we 
may  often  differ  in  opinion,  let  us  here  be  united.  In  God's 
name  let  us  respect  and  love  the  dead  who  have  died  for  us. 
Let  this  beautiful  custom  be  perpetuated  until  the  day  shall 
become  hallowed  in  the  history  of  freedom.  It  carries  with 
it  the  idea  of  our  loss  and  the  dear  cost  of  liberty.  It 
brings  fresh  to  mind  the  deeds  of  our  country's  martyrs,  it 
keeps  alive  and  warm  the  greatest  principles  for  which  our 
sires  poured  out  their  blood,  on  which  our  republic  is  based. 

gen.  JOHN  A.  LOGAN,  DU  QUOIN,  ILL. 


The  Homage  We  Owe  the  Fallen. — No  eloquence  can 
be  as  commanding  as  the  eloquence  of  these  graves  ;  no 
flowers  of  rhetoric  as  appropriate  as  these  flowers  of  spring 
with  which  we  honor  the  remains  of  the  patriot  dead. 

They  rose  from  the  sphere  of  the  citizen  to  the  plane  of 
the  patriot.     They  learned  what  war  meant,  by  meeting  it 


140 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


DECORA  TION  DA  V. 


141 


With  the  courage  of  the  warrior.     War  is  the  sundering  of 
the  dearest  ties.       War  is  the  wearisome  march  and  the 
privations  of  the  camp.     War  is  life  ebbing  away  in  the 
hospital  or  the  prison  pen.     War  is  the  bursting  shell  and 
the  thousands  upon  thousands  of  unseen  bullets  speeding 
death    ,n    every   direction.       War   is    the    open-mouthed 
cannon  making  windrows  of  victims  through  the  ranks  of 
armies.     War  is  the  empty  sleeve  and  the  weary  crutch 
War  IS  force,  bloodshed,  anguish,  death.     To  this  harvest 
of   death   these  brave   men    willingly   went   forth.        The 
Spartan    band   of    Leonidas   at   the   Thermopyl^an    Pass 
were  not  more  heroic  and   self-sacrificing;   Curtius,  who 
leaped    into  the  yawning  gulf    to  save   with   his  own  his 
nation  s  life,  was  not  more  daring.     Do  we  not  owe  them 
therefore,    the   homage    we   so  willingly   render   to-day  J 
1  hey    were    not   only   patriotic,   and   brave,   and    darinV 
but  they  were  martyrs   also.     The  supporters  of  religion 
gave  their  lives   for  a  principle.     These   martyrs  of  patri- 
otism  gave   their  lives   for  an  idea.      It   was   the   grand 
Idea  of  American  nationality  that  inspired  them  to  sacrifice 
and  transformed  them  from  peaceful  citizens  into  patriotic 
heroes.     It  was  to  save  the  dear  old  flag  from  dishonor,  and 
the  nation  that  they  loved  from  destruction,  that  they  gave 
their  lives.     Some  lived  to  see  the  victory  won  for  which 
they  had  periled  so  much  ;  but  many  of  them  passed  away 
before  the  hour  of  triumph,  in  the  darkness  of  night,  before 
the  bright  rays  of  the  morning  came.     Some  sleep  in  this 
city  of  the  silent  dead,  near  to  the  friends  they  loved  while 
living.     Many  returned  not,  living  or  dead,  but  lie  in  dis- 
tant cemeteries  ;  or,  sadder  than  all,  have  over  them  the 
tombstone  marked  -  Unknown."     But  whether  here  or  far 
away,  a  preserved  republic  honors  all  their  memories  and 
gratefully  enshrines  their  patriotic  pride  in  undying  history 
We  may  adorn  with  loving  tributes  tlie  resting  place  of  our 
beloved  dead  ;  the  flowers  which  are  strewn  here  may  sym- 
bolize the  living  fragrance  of  their  memory  ;  but  we  shall 
honor  them  the  most  by  having  their  example  teach  us  to 


1 


s 


love  our  country  more,  to  value  its  dearly  purchased  insti- 
tutions more,  to  prize  its  manifold  blessings  more,  and  to 
advance  its  greatness  and  true  glory  more.  And  thus,  as 
we  bare  and  bow  our  heads  in  their  honor  on  this  com- 
memorative day,  we  shall  appreciate  more  truly  and  thor- 
oughly those  priceless  privileges  for  which  they  sacrificed 
all  they  had — home,  and  happiness,  and  life — to  preserve 
for  us  and  the  generations  that  are  to  follow  us  when  we 
too  have  passed  away. 

HON.  SCHUYLER  COLFAX,  SOUTH  BEND,  IND. 

All  Honor  to  the  Brave. — To-day,  the  great,  the 
gifted,  and  the  gay,  go  forth  on  a  pious  pilgrimage  to  these 
silent  shrines  to  honor  the  fallen  brave.  Eloquent  eulogy 
will  chronicle  their  heroism  ;  gifted  poets  will  chant  their 
praises  ;  fair  hands  will  scatter  floral  tributes  to  their  worth  ; 
the  surrounding  groves  will  echo  with  the  national  airs ; 
and  **  Liberty's  bright  flag  will  be  displayed,"  with  the  roar 
of  artillery.  Never  has  a  nation  thus  honored  its  defenders, 
and  it  is  right  that  they  should  be  thus  honored.  The  un- 
marked grave  of  a  Union  soldier,  with  nothing  but  the  few 
drops  of  the  morning  dew  to  gild  it,  is  more  glorious  than 
the  proud  mausoleum  of  a  despotic  conqueror.  A  redeemed 
nation  *'  swells  the  funeral  cry,  and  Triumph  weeps  above 
the  brave." 

major  ben:  perley  poore,  newburyport,  mass. 

America's  Capacity  for  Self-government. — The 
successful  overthrow  of  the  great  Rebellion  has  taught  the 
crowned  heads  of  the  world  that "  we  the  people "  can 
make  the  ablest  and  mightiest  government  that  earth  ever 
saw;  that  no  government  beneath  the  sun  has  within  itself 
greater  capacity  of  self-preservation  than  has  been  dis- 
played by  the  American  republic. 

A  government  whose  bulwarks  are  made  strong  by  the 
willing  hearts  and  ready  hands  of  its  own  loving  sons, 
rejoicing  ever  to  do  and  to  die  in  its  defense — such  govern- 


142 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


ment  may  mock  at  its  foes.     The  elements  of  power  and 
endurance  are  in  it.     Talk  of  imperialism,  of  a  royal  house- 
hold,  and  of  a  blooded  and  titled  aristocracy  on  American 
soil  !     Such  plants  will  never  thrive  here.     One  blast  of  a 
sweeping  nor'wester  would  wither  them  to  their  root's  ends 
Whoever  would   amuse  himself  by  the  culture  of    such 
exotics    must   nurture   them    carefully    in   the  hotbed   of 
his  own  fevered  brain,  and  shut  them  out  from  the  sunlight 
of  American  intelligence  and  the  bracing  air  of  this  free 
land.     They  can  only  have  even  the  sickliest  growth  in  the 
nursery  brain  of  these  wild  fanatics.     But  by  transplanting 
into  the  outside  world  they  would  encounter  instant  blast- 
ing  and  mildew.     Liberty's  strong  tree  flourishes  here.     It 
IS  mdigenous  to  American  soil.     It  thrives  on  the  rocks 
of  New  England,  and  on  the  mountain  tops  of  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Tennessee.     The  winds  which  sweep  across  the 
northern  lakes  fan  its  lungs  into  the  largeness  of  a  vigorous 
life,  so  even  its  leaves  are  for  the  healing  of  the  nations 
It  grows  luxuriantly  by  the  side  of  still  waters  in  Michigan* 
and  strikes  its  roots  deep  into  the  broad  prairies  of  the 
Mississippi  valley.     This  is  its  home  :  but  imperialism  is 
at  best  a  miserable  house-plant,  and,  thank  Heaven,  found 
in  but  few  houses  at  that. 

For  no  such  wretched  end  did  our  heroes  die.  In  their 
last  will  and  testament,  sealed  with  their  blood,  they  have 
bequeathed  to  us,  as  their  dying  legacy,  a  Union  stronger 
nobler,  freer  than  ever.  "  The  blood  of  the  martyrs  is  the 
seed  of  the  church."  By  the  gift  of  these  men,  and  such 
as  these,  we  have  henceforth  a  more  homogeneous  country 
and  a  grander  and  higher  civilization. 

PRES.  E.  B.  FAIRFIELD, 

HILLSDALE  COLLEGE,  DETROIT,  MICH. 

America's  All  Saints'  Day.— Hero  worship  in  some 
form  is  as  old  and  almost  as  universal  as  humanity.  The 
demi-gods  of  the  ancient  nations  were  heroes  illustrious  for 
their  valor,  prowess,  and  patriotism,  and   who  for  these 


DECORA  TION  DA  V. 


M3 


qualities  were  after  death  deified  by  an  admiring  and  grate- 
ful posterity.  The  saint  worship  of  more  modern  times  is 
another  form  of  the  same  thing  ;  for  the  saint  is  the  hero 
of  another  and  a  nobler  type,  in  whom  moral  heroism  and 
endurance  have  taken  the  place  of  the  physical  strength 
and  courage  which  characterized  the  heroes  and  demi-gods 
of  pagan  antiquity.  In  these  countries  in  which  the  saints 
are  more  honored  than  in  our  own,  they  have  a  custom 
which,  in  one  of  its  aspects  at  least,  is  worthy  of  our  ad- 
miration. As  there  are  not  days  enough  in  the  year  to 
give  one  to  every  saint,  there  is  one  day  set  apart  in  honor 
of  them  all,  so  that  none  of  them  may  fail  to  receive  some 
share  of  the  homage  due.  This  is  democratic  and  just. 
It  commends  itself  to  our  love  of  fair  play  and  impar- 
tiality. For  it  is  not  always  the  saints  most  renowned 
that  are  most  worthy  of  the  honor,  nor  is  it  always  the 
heroes  whose  names  are  most  trumpeted  by  fame  that  have 
the  highest  claims  upon  the  gratitude  of  mankind. 

This  day  may  without  impropriety  be  called  our  Amer- 
ican All  Saints'  day,  for  we  have  no  better  saints  than  those 
whose  memory  we  have  come  to  honor.  Nor  do  I  deem 
it  any  perversion  of  terms  to  speak  of  them  as  saints  ;  for 
a  saint,  stripped  of  all  superstitious  fancies,  is  simply  a  good 
man,  who  has  not  lived  for  himself  alone,  but  for  God  and 
the  good  of  his  fellow  men. 

The  altar  it  is  said,  sanctifies  the  gift.  The  cause  for 
which  a  man  suffers  imparts  its  sanctity  to  the  sufferer. 
He  who  dies  in  battle  for  the  rights  and  liberties  of  men 
must  share  forever  in  the  glory  of  the  cause  for  which  he 
shed  his  blood.  The  martyrs  of  all  ages  are  illustrious, 
not  so  much  by  virtue  of  their  personal  position  and  merits 
as  from  the  fact  that  the  great  cause  for  which  they  suf- 
fered and  sacrificed  themselves  has  reflected  upon  them 
its  own  imperishable  luster  and  glory.  And  if  any  cause 
can  confer  honor  upon  its  defenders  and  martyrs,  surely 
the  cause  for  which  these  men  suffered  is  such  a  one. 

rev.    WILLIAM    M'KINLEY,  WINONA,  MINN. 


144 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION. 


Our  Fallen  HEROES.-Coming  from  the  busy  walks  of 
life  to  cemetery  and  field,  with  reverence  for  the  heroic 
dead  and  gratitude  for  the  patriotic  living,  we  bring  a 
wreath  of  cypress  for  the  graves  of  those  whose  lips  are 
sealed-who  answer  no  more  to  the  roll  call  amono-  the 
hv.ng-and  speak  a  word  to  those  more  fortunate,  who 
fought  a  good  fight,  kept  a  sacred  faith,  won  a  glorious 
victory,  and  live  to  fight  the  battles  of  free  and  ever-grow- 
ing people.  ^ 

We  come  to  linger  among  those  graves,  which  are  not 
simply  houses  for  the  dead,  but  vaults  in  which  the  nation's 
power,  fame,  and  glory  are  stored.     Thev  are  still  centers 
o  power  in  cemetery,  churchyard,  lonely  fawns,  groves,  and 
national  fields,  beautified  and  indicated  by  shafts  and  slabs 
deserted,  forgotten,  and  covered  with  turf,  visited  for  the 
first  time  for  a  year-visited  by  friends  with  loving  hearts 
and  by  angels,  at  the  hand  of  the  winds.     See  them  coming 
from  the  hillside  and  valley,  from  hothouse  and  conserva 
tory;    coming   with    flowers-flowers   gathered,   selected, 
cultivated  ;  flowers,  "  nature's  sweetest  gifts  "  and  choices 
offerings. 

There  are  newly  made  graves,  into  which  many  of  our 
most  honored  comrades  have  stepped  since  last  we  met 
Ihey   were   brave,  gallant,  and    peerless,   but   they  have 
passed  the  Appomattox  of  life.     Those  who  were 

The  pillar  of  a  people's  hope, 
The  center  of  a  world's  desire. 

They  have  exchanged  the  corruptible  for  incorruption 
mortality  for  immortality,  and  joined  Moses  and  Joshua' 
Wellington  and  Cromwell,  Lincoln  and  Garfield,  and  that 
innumerable  throng,  "  whose  death  was  a  poem,  the  music 
of  which  can  never  be  sung."     Alas  ! 

The  boast  of  heraldiy,  the  pomp  of  power, 
And  all  that  beauty,  all  that  wealth  e'er  gave, 

Await  alike  the  inevitable  hour ; 
The  path  of  glory  leads  but  to  the  grave. 


DECORA  TION  DA  K. 


145 


Every  heart  in  this  broad  land  ought  to  respond  to  the 
call  of  our  commander,  and  enter  into  the  service  of  this 
hour  with  the  same  zeal  and  enthusiasm  that  characterized 
the  days  of  enlistment,  and  the  organization  of  the  armies 
out  of  which  these  men  have  fallen. 

Other  lands  have  had  heroes,  but  ours  were  more — they 
were  saviors,  and  by  their  sacrifices  have  saved  the  greatest 
land  under  the  shining  sun. 

Our  boys  went  to  conquer  a  rebellion  and  save  the  unity 
of  a  nation. 

When  Marcus  Curtius  was  told  by  the  soothsayer  that 
the  chasm  opened  in  the  Roman  Forum  must  be  filled  with 
what  Romans  most  valued,  he  mounted  his  horse  and  rode 
away  into  death,  a  sacrifice  for  his  country. 

When  General  Pemberton  met  his  old  comrade.  General 
Grant,  at  Vicksburg,  and  asked  for  an  interview,  that  blood- 
shed might  cease,  Grant's  answer  voiced  the  feelings  of 
every  true  soldier  :  *'  On  one  condition  this  blood  may 
cease  to  flow."  '*  What  is  that  ? "  "  An  unconditional 
surrender  on  your  part,  General."  This  spirit  filled  the 
ranks  as  well  as  the  ofificers. 

A  generation  has  been  born  and  bred  in  the  South  since 
we  asked  our  conquered  brothers  to  come  back  and  share 
with  us  ;  a  thousand  interests  have  developed  that  claim 
our  attention  ;  and  there  remains  but  one  thing  for  us  to 
do,  and  that  is  well  expressed  in  an  old  hymn  : 

To  serve  the  present  age. 
My  calling  to  fulfill. 

Temples  and  institutions  of  learning  crown  our  hills  ; 
while  the  generation  born  since  the  war,  and  now  in  the 
majority,  needs  the  patriotism  such  an  hour  begets.  If 
there  were  no  words  spoken,  or  songs  sung,  an  hour  among 
the  heroic  dead,  with  muffled  tread  and  silent  prayer,  would 
impress  us  with  a  sense  of  self-sacrifice,  and  inspire  a 
heroism  the  age  needs.     None  can  move  among  the  dis- 


146 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION-. 


DECORA  TION  DA  K. 


embodied  spirits  of  such  men  without  profit.  To  go  again 
in  imagination  in  search  of  water  to  slake  the  thirst  of  a 
dymg  comrade  ;  to  note  the  tear  of  joy  falling  over  his 
unwashed  cheek,  as  we  took  his  last  farewell,  is  to  put  on 
anew  the  spirit  of  other  days. 

REV.    H.    W.    BOLTON. 


147 


THE   BROTHERHOOD   OF   SOLDIERS. 

Comrades  known  in  marches  many, 
Comrades  tried  in  dangers  many, 
Comrades  bound  by  memories  many, 

Brothers  ever  let  us  be. 
Wounds  and  sickness  may  divide  us, 
Marching  orders  may  divide  us. 
But  whatever  fate  betide  us, 

Brothers  of  the  heart  are  we. 

By  communion  of  the  banner, 
Battle-scarred  and  victory  banner, 
By  the  baptism  of  the  banner, 

Brothers  of  one  church  are  we. 
Creed  nor  faction  can  divide  us, 
Race  nor  nation  can  divide  us, 
But  whatever  fate  betide  us, 

Brothers  of  the  flag  are  we. 

Comrades  known  by  faith  the  dearest, 
Tried  when  death  was  near  and  nearest, 
Bound  we  are  by  ties  the  dearest, 

Brothers  evermore  to  be. 
And  if  spared  and  growing  older, 
Shoulder  still  in  line  with  shoulder, 
And  with  hearts  no  throb  the  colder. 

Brothers  ever  we  will  be. 

MILES  o'reILLY. 


The  beautiful  tribute  of  the  Kentucky  officer  to  his  com- 
rades who  fell  in  the  Mexican  War,  on  the  occasion  of  the 
removal  of  their  remains  to  their  native  land,  seems  pecu- 
liarly appropriate  for  a  memorial  service  : 

The  muffled  drum's  sad  roll  has  beat 

These  soldiers'  last  tattoo  ; 
No  more  on  life's  parade  shall  meet 

These  brave  and  daring  few. 

On  fame's  eternal  camping  ground 

Their  silent  tents  are  spread  ; 
And  glory  guards  with  solemn  round 

The  bivouac  of  the  dead. 

No  vision  of  the  morrow's  strife 

The  warrior's  dreams  alarms  ; 
No  braying  horn  or  screaming  tife 

At  dawn  shall  call  to  arms. 

Nor  war's  wild  note  nor  glory's  peal 

Shall  thrill  with  grim  delight 
Those  breasts  that  nevermore  shall  feel 

The  rapture  of  the  fight. 

Rest  on,  embalmed,  heroic  dead, 

Ye  noble  and  ye  brave, 
No  impious  footprints  there  shall  tread 

The  herbage  of  your  grave ; 

Nor  shall  your  glory  be  forgot 

While  Fame  her  record  keeps, 
Nor  Honor  points  the  hallowed  spot 

Where  Valor  proudly  sleeps. 

Yon  marble  minstrel's  voiceless  tone 

In  deathless  song  shall  tell, 
When  many  a  vanquished  age  hath  flown, 

The  story  how  ye  fell. 

Nor  wreck,  nor  change,  nor  winter's  blight. 

Nor  time's  remorseless  doom, 
Shall  dim  one  ray  of  holy  light 

That  gilds  your  glorious  tomb. 


N<; 


148  THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 

From  North,  and  East,  and  West  they  came, 
They  left  their  plowshares  in  the  mold, 
Their  flocks  and  herds  without  the  fold, 
Their  sickles  in  the  unmown  grain. 
Their  corn  half  garner'd  on  the  plain. 
To  right  their  wrongs,  come  weal,  come  woe, 
To  perish  or  o'ercome  the  foe. 

They  throng  the  silence  of  the  heart, 

We  see  them  as  of  yore — 
The  kind,  the  true,  the  brave,  the  sweet, 

Who  talk  with  us  no  more. 

All  honor  to  the  patriot  dead, 

Who  fell  that  freedom's  cause  might  live  ; 
We  strew  above  each  grassy  bed 

The  sweetest  flowers  our  hands  can  give. 

And  thus  beside  each  hallowed  grave. 

We  tell  how  recollection  still 
Warms  with  those  memories  of  the  brave. 

Which  lapsing  years  shall  never  chill. 

And  here  above  their  sleeping  dust 
We  call  their  shades  from  spirit  land. 

To  seal  our  pledges  that  the  trust 

For  which  they  died  for  aye  shall  stand. 

Dearer  than  aught  on  earth  beside. 
Sacred  as  all  our  hopes  of  heaven— 

That  for  the  flag,  whate'er  betide. 

Our  lives  are  pledged,  and  shall  be  given. 

So  on  the  field  where  long  ago 

Brave  warriors  stayed  invasion's  tread, 

We  swear  afresh,  come  weal  or  woe. 
We  will  be  faithful  to  the  dead. 

COL.  CHARLES  CASE,  NEW  ORLEANS,  LA. 


DECORA  TION  DA  V.  ^49 

Great  God  !     We  thank  Thee  for  this  home. 

This  bounteous  birthland  of  the  free, 
Where  wanderers  from  afar  may  come, 

And  breathe  the  air  of  liberty  ; 
Still  may  her  flowers  untrampled  spring, 

Her  harvests  wave,  her  cities  rise, 
And  yet,  till  time  shall  fold  her  wing, 

Remain  earth's  loveliest  paradise. 

Give  me  the  death  of  those 

Who  for  their  country  die  ; 
And  oh,  be  mine  like  their  repose, 

As  cold  and  low  they  lie. 
Their  loveliest  mother  earth 

Enshrines  the  fallen  brave  ; 
In  her  sweet  lap  who  gave  them  birth. 

They  find  a  tranquil  grave. 

COL.  T.  A.  GREEN,  ST.  JOSEPH,  MO. 

These  occasions  recall  Collins'  exquisite  and  never  to 
be  sufficiently  admired  lines  : 

How  sleep  the  brave  who  sink  to  rest. 
With  all  their  country's  wishes  blessed ; 
When  Spring,  with  dewy  fingers  cold, 
Returns  to  deck  their  hallow'd  mold. 
She  there  shall  dress  a  sweeter  sod, 
Than  Fancy's  feet  have  ever  trod. 

By  fairy  hands  their  knell  is  rung, 
By  forms  unseen  their  dirge  is  sung ; 
There  Honor  comes,  a  pilgrim  gray. 
To  bless  the  turf  that  wraps  their  clay ; 
And  Freedom  shall  awhile  repair, 
To  dwell  a  weeping  hermit  there. 


WASHINGTON'S   BIRTHDAY. 

Biographical.— George  Washington  was  born  in  Westmoreland 
County,  Va.,  February  22   (old   style,  February    11),    1732.     His 
ancestry  can  be  traced  no  further  back  than  his  great  grandfather 
John   Washington,   who   settled    in   Virginia    about   1657.      His 
father's    name  was   Augustine   Washington,   and    his    mother's 
maiden  name  Mary  Ball,  and  their  marriage  took  place  in   1730. 
Very  little  is  known  of  George  Washington's  early  life  and  boy- 
hood.    His  education  was  elementary  and  very  defective,  except 
in  mathematics,  in  which  he  was  largely  self-taught.     About  1748 
he  was  at  Mount  Vernon  and  obtained,  at  sixteen  years  of  age,  the 
appointment  of  surveyor  of  the  enormous  property  of  Lord  Fairfax, 
and  the  succeeding  three  years  of  his  life  were  spent  in  this  service. 
At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  was  appointed  adjutant  of  the  Virginia 
troops  with  the  rank  of  major.     At  the  death  of  his  half-brother 
Lawrence  in  the  following  year,  he  was  executor  under  the  will, 
and  residuary  heir  of  Mount  Vernon.     In  1753,  when  he  had  barely 
attained  his  majority,  the  young  man  was  made  commander  of  the 
northerly   military   district   of   Virginia  by   the   new   Lieutenant- 
Governor,  Dinwiddle.     At  the  outbreak  of  the  French  and  Indian 
wars  in  1753-4,  he  was  sent  by  Governor  Dinwiddle  to  warn  the 
French   away   from    their   new   forts   in   Western    Pennsylvania. 
The  command  of  the  Virginia  troops  fell  on  him,  and  his  vigorous 
defense  of  Fort  Necessity  made  him  so  prominent  a  figure  that  in 
1755,  ^t   the   age   of  twenty-three,  he   was  commissioned    com- 
mander-in-chief of  all  the  Virginia  forces.     He  served  in  Brad- 
dock's  campaign,  and  in  the  final  defeat  showed  for  the  first  time 
that  fiery  energy  which  always  lay  hidden  beneath  his  calm  and 
unruffled  exterior.     For  a  year  or  two  he  defended  a  frontier  of 
more  than  350  miles  against  the  French  and  Indians  with  seven 
hundred  men,  and  in  1758  had  the  pleasure  of  commanding  the 
advance  guard  of  the  expedition  which  captured  Fort  Du  Quesne 
and  renamed  it  Fort  Pitt  (now  Pittsburg).     The  war  in  Virginia 
was  thus  ended  and  Washington  resigned  his  post,  married  Mrs. 
Curtis,  a  widow,  and   settled   at   Mount  Vernon.     For  the  next 
twenty  years  of  his  life,  Washington  lived  like  a  typical  Virginia 
planter,  a  consistent   member  of  the  Episcopal   church,  a  large 
slaveholder,  a  strict  but  considerate  master,  and  a  widely  trusted 
man  of  affairs.     His  marriage  brought  an  increase  of  $100,000  to 
his  estate.     There  is   no  evidence  that   he  was  extensively  read, 
but  only  that  he  was  a  methodical  man  of  business,  had  a  wide 

153 


Sts'.S.ViV^^.Mfat.-^.-JIr.Aiky..^.    f.-.t«.l.JftaM.i--.J.J^^-.^_..Ji^ 


154 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION 


acquaintance  with  the  leading  men  of  the  county  without  any 
strong  indications  of  what  is  usually  considered  to  be  greatness 
He  was  educated  into  greatness  by  the  increasing  weight  of  his 
responsibilities  and  the  manner  in  which  he  met  them      Though 
frequently  elected  to  the  legislature,  he  made  no  notable  speeches 
but  stated  his  opinions  frankly  and  his  reasons  for  holding  them' 
and  his  positions  were  always  radical  ones.     In  1774  the  Virginian 
Convention  appointed  seven  of  its  members  as  delegates  to  the 
Continental  Congress,  Washington  being  one  of  them,  and  with 
this  appointment  his  national  career  began.     It  is  evident  from 
his  course  in  Congress  and  from  his  letters  that  he  expected  that 
the  disagreements  with   the  mother  country  would  end  in  war 
His  associates  in   Congress  recognized  his  military  ability,  and 
preparations  for  armed  resistance  were  by  common  consent  left 
to  him,  and  that  in  case  of  war.  Virginia  would  expect  him  to  be 
her    commander-in-chief.      After    the    f^ght    at    Lexington   and 
Concord,   the   first   practical    step   was   the   unanimous  election 
by   Congress,  on   motion   of  John  Adams  of  Massachusetts,  of 
Washington  as  commander-in-chief  of  the  armed  forces  of  the 
United  Colonies.     Refusing  any  salary,  he  accepted  the  position, 
asiang"  every  gentleman  in  the  room  "  to  remember  his  declara- 
tion, that  he  did  not  believe  himself  to  be  equal  to  the  command 
and  that  he  accepted  it  only  as  a  duty  made  imperative  by  the 
unanimity  of  the  call ;  and  there  seems  no  doubt  that  till  the  day 
of  his  death  he  was  a  most  determined  skeptic  as  to  his  fitness 
for  the  positions  he  was  to  fill. 

He  vvas  commissioned  June  19,  1775^  and  reached  Cambridge, 
Mass.,  July  2,  taking  command  of  the  levies  there  assembled  for 
action  against  the  British  garrison  of  Boston.     The  Battle  of  Bun- 
ker Hill  had  already  taken  place,  and  Washington's  task  until  the 
following  spring  was  to  prepare  his  troops  and  to  bend  the  course 
of  events  steadily  toward  driving  the  British  out  of  Boston      It  is 
not  easy  to  see  how  he  survived  the  year  1775  ;  the  colonial  povertv 
the  exasperating  annoyances,  the  selfishness  or  stupidity  which 
cropped  out  again  and  again  from  the  most  patriotic  of  his  fellow- 
helpers,  were  enough  to  have  broken  down  most  men.     These  things 
completed  the  training  of  Washington.     The  change  in  him,  in  this 
one  winter  was  evident.     If  he  was  not  a  great  man  when  he  went 
to  Canibridge,  he  was  a  general  and  a  statesman,  in  the  best  sense 
when  he  drove  the  British  out  of  Boston  in  March,  1776.     From' 
that  moment  until  his  death    he  was   the   foremost  man  of  the 
continent. 

We  cannot  undertake  in  this  brief  sketch  to  detail  the  military 
operations  of  the  remainder  of  the  war.  Suffice  it  to  state  that 
Washington's  retreat  through  the  Jerseys;  the  manner  in  which 
he  turned  and  struck  his  pursuers  at  Trenton  and  Princeton  and 
then  established  himself  at  Morristown,  so  as  to  make  the  wky  to 
Philadelphia  impassable;  the  vigor  with  which  he  handled  his 
army   at    Chad's   Ford   and   Germantown ;   the   persistence  with 


WASHINGTON'S  BIRTHDAY. 


^55 


which  he  held  the  strategic  position  of  Valley  Forge  through  the 
dreadful  winter  of  i777-7^^  hi  spite  of  the  misery  of  his  men,  the 
clamors  of  the  people,  and  the  impotence  of  the  fugitive  Congress, 
all  went  to  show  that  the  fiber  of  his  public  character  had  been 
hardened  to  its  permanent  quality.  It  was  just  at  this  time,  too, 
that  the  spirit  that  culminated  in  Benedict  Arnold's  treason  showed 
itself  in  various  ways  among  his  officers,  and  in  an  attempt  to  sup- 
plant Washington  himself.  But  the  prompt  and  vigorous  pursuit 
of  Clinton  across  the  Jerseys  toward  New  York  closed  the  direct 
active  military  record  of  Washington  in  the  war.  The  enemy  con- 
fined their  movements  to  other  points  of  the  continent.  Wash- 
ington watched  their  headquarters  in  New  York  city,  and  by  the 
campaign  of  Yorktown,  conceived  by  himself,  and  by  the  surrender 
of  Cornwallis,  October  17,  1781,  he  brought  hostilities  to  a  close. 
On  November  25,  1783,  the  British  evacuated  New  York.  On 
December  4  Washington  delivered  his  farewell  address  to  the 
army,  but  he  retained  his  commission  until  December  28,  1783, 
when  he  returned  it  to  Congress,  then  in  session  at  Annapolis, 
Md.,  and  retired  to  private  life  at  Mount  Vernon,  Va. 

His  influence  was  as  powerful  after  he  had  retired  to  Mount 
Vernon  as  before  his  resignation,  and  it  vvas  his  influence  alone 
that  secured  the  quiet  disbanding  of  the  discontented  army,  that 
desired  to  make  him  a  king,  if  he  could  be  persuaded  to  aid  in 
establishing  a  monarchy.  When  the  Federal  Convention  met  in 
Philadelphia  in  May,  1787,  to  frame  the  present  Constitution,  he 
was  unwillingly  present  as  a  delegate  from  Virginia  and  was 
unanimously  chosen  chairman.  He  took  no  part  in  the  debates, 
but  made  some  suggestions,  and  it  was  probably  his  influence  that 
secured  its  adoption.  When  the  time  came  for  the  election  of  a 
President  no  one  thought  of  anyone  else  but  Washington,  and  by 
a  unanimous  vote  of  the  electors  he  vvas  chosen  first  President  of 
the  United  States.  Their  unanimous  vote  re-elected  him  in  1792- 
93,  and  even  after  he  had  positively  refused  to  serve  for  a  third 
term  two  electors  obstinately  voted  for  him  in  1796-97. 

The  success  of  the  new  system  of  government  vvas  in  a  large 
measure  due  to  the  wisdom,  tact,  and  influence  of  the  President. 
Attacks  of  v^irious  kind  were  made  upon  him  during  his  adminis- 
tration, but  only  by  a  very  small  fraction  of  the  politicians.  The 
people  never  wavered  in  their  devotion  to  their  President.  On 
September  15,  1796,  he  published  his  farewell  address  to  the 
country.  Retiring  from  the  Presidency  in  1797,  he  resumed  his 
plantation  life  which  he  most  loved,  the  society  of  his  family,  and 
the  care  of  his  slaves  ;  and  it  is  said  that  he  "  wished  from  his 
soul  that  his  State  could  be  persuaded  to  abolish  slavery  :  it  might 
prevent  much  future  mischief."  In  1798,  he  was  made  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  provisional  army  raised  in  expectation  of  open  war 
with  France.  But  in  the  midst  of  his  military  preparations  he 
was  struck  down  by  sudden  illness,  which  lasted  but  for  a  day,  and 
he  died  at  Mount  Vernon,  December  14,  1799. 


156 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION'. 


Such  was  the  man  whom  the  American  people  deh'ght  to  honor 
on  the  anniversary  of  his  birth,  and  who  in  American  history  holds 
the  position  of  "  tirst  in  war,  first  in  peace,  and  first  in  the  hearts 
of  his  countrymen." 


WASHINGTON'S   ADDRESS 

TO    THE  AMERICAN   TROOPS    BEFORE    THE    BATTLE    OF    LONG 

ISLAND,    AUGUST  27,   1776. 

The  time  is  now  near  at  hand  which  must  probably 
determine  whether  Americans  are  to  be  freemen  or  slaves  ; 
whether  they  are  to  have  any  property  they  can  call  their 
own  ;  whether  their  houses  are  to  be  pillaged  and  destroyed, 
and  themselves  consigned  to  a  state  of  wretchedness  from 
which  no  human  efforts  will  deliver  them.  The  fate  of 
unborn  millions  will  now  depend,  under  God,  on  the  courage 
and  conduct  of  this  army.  Our  cruel  unrelenting  enemy 
leaves  us  only  the  choice  of  a  brave  resistance  or  the  most 
abject  submission.  We  have,  therefore,  to  resolve  to  con- 
quer or  to  die.  Our  own,  our  country's  honor,  calls  upon 
us  for  a  vigorous  and  manly  exertion  ;  and  if  we  now 
shamefully  fail,  we  shall  become  infamous  before  the  whole 
world.  Let  us,  then,  rely  on  the  goodness  of  our  cause, 
and  the  aid  of  the  Supreme  Being,  in  whose  hands  victory 
is,  to  animate  and  encourage  us  to  great  and  noble  actions. 
The  eyes  of  all  our  countrymen  are  now  upon  us  ;  and  we 
shall  have  their  blessings  and  praises  if  happily  we  are  the 
instruments  of  saving  them  from  the  tyranny  meditated 
against  them.  Let  us,  therefore,  animate  and  encourage 
each  other,  and  show  the  whole  world  that  a  freeman  con- 
tending for  liberty  on  his  own  ground,  is  superior  to  any 
slavish  mercenary  on  earth.  Liberty,  property,  life,  and 
honor  are  all  at  stake.  Upon  your  courage  and  conduct  rest 
the  hopes  of  our  bleeding  and  insulted  country.  Our  wives, 
children,  and  parents  expect  safety  from  us  only  ;  and  they 
have  every  reason  to  believe  that  Heaven  will  crown  with 
success  so  just  a  cause.      The   enemy  will   endeavor  to 


WASHINGTON'S  BIRTHDAY. 


157 


intimidate  us  by  show  and  appearance  ;  but  remember  they 
have  been  repulsed  on  various  occasions  by  a  few  brave 
Americans.  Their  cause  is  bad — their  men  are  conscious 
of  it  ;  and,  if  opposed  with  firmness  and  coolness  on  their 
first  onset,  with  our  advantages  of  works  and  knowledge  of 
the  ground,  the  victory  is  most  assuredly  ours.  Every 
good  soldier  will  be  silent  and  attentive,  wait  for  orders, 
and  reserve  his  fire  until  he  is  sure  of  doing  execution. 


WASHINGTON  AND  THE  "CAUSE  OF  '76." 

THOMAS    DAVIS. 

May  the  name  of  Washington  continue,  steeled,  as  it 
ever  has  been,  to  the  dark  slanderous  arrow  that  **  ilieth  in 
secret."  As  it  has  ever  been  !  for  none  has  offered  to 
eclipse  his  glory  but  has  afterward  sunk  away  diminished 
and  "  shorn  of  its  beams." 

Let  justice  then  be  done  to  our  country,  let  justice  be 
done  to  our  great  leader  ;  and  as  the  only  means,  under 
Heaven,  of  his  salvation,  let  his  army  be  replenished.  That 
grand  duty  done,  we  will  once  more  adopt  an  enthusiasm 
sublime  in  itself,  but  still  more  so  as  coming  from  the  lips 
of  a  first  patriot — the  chief  magistrate  of  this  common- 
wealth. "  I  have,"  said  he,  "  a  most  animating  confidence 
that  the  present  noble  struggle  for  liberty  will  terminate 
gloriously  for  America."     Aspiring  to  such  a  confidence, 

I  see  the  expressive  leaves  of  Fate  thrown  wide. 

Of  future  times  1  see  the  mighty  tide  ; 

And  borne  triumphant  on  buoyant  wave, 

A  godlike  number  of  the  great  and  brave. 

The  bright  wide  ranks  of  martyrs — here  they  rise; 

Heroes  and  patriots  move  before  my  eyes ; 

These  crowned  with  olive,  those  with  laurel  come, 

Like  the  first  fathers  of  immortal  Rome. 

Fly,  Time  !    Oh,  lash  thy  fiery  steeds  away — 

Roll  rapid  wheels,  and  bring  the  smiling  day 


158 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION, 

When  these  blest  States,  another  promised  land. 
Chosen  and  fostered  by  the  Almighty  hand, 
Supreme  shall  rise— their  crowded  shores  shall  be 
The  fixed  abodes  of  empire  and  of  liberty. 


WASHINGTON'S  BIRTHDAY. 


159 


ORATION  ON   WASHINGTON. 

DELIVERED    BEFORE    THE    CONNECTICUT    LEGISLATURE, 


MAY     I,    1783. 


DR.    STILES. 


O  Washington  !    how  do  I  love  thy  name  !    how  often 
have  I  adored  and  blessed  thy  God,  for  creating  and  form- 
ing thee,  the  great  ornament  of  human  kind  !     Upheld  and 
protected  by  the  Omnipotent,  by  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  thou 
hast  been  sustained  and  carried  through  one  of  the  most 
arduous  and  important  wars  in  all  history.     The  world  and 
posterity  will,  with  admiration,  contemplate  thy  deliberate, 
cool,  and  stable  judgment,  thy  virtues,  thy  valor  and  heroic 
achievements  as  far  surpassing  those  of  Cyrus,  whom  the 
world  loved  and  adored.     The  sound  of  thy  fame  shall  go 
out  into  all  the  earth,  and  extend  to  distant  ages.     Thou 
hast  convinced  the  world  of  the  beauty  of  virtue— for  in 
thee  this  beauty  shines  with  distinguished  luster.     There  is 
a  glory  in  this  disinterested  benevolence,  which  the  greatest 
characters  would  purchase,  if  possible,  at  the  expense  of 
worlds,  and  which  may  indeed  excite  their  emulation,  but 
cannot  be  felt  by  the  venial  great— those  who  think  every- 
thing,  even  virtue  and  true  glory,  may  be  bought  and  sold, 
and  trace  our  every  action  to  motives  terminating  in  self. 

Find  virtue  local,  all  relation  scorn, 
See  all  in  self,  and  but  for  self  be  born. 

But  thou,  O  Washington  !  forgottest  thyself  when  thou 
lovedst  thy  bleeding  country.  Not  all  the  gold  of  Ophir, 
nor  a  world  filled  with  rubies  and  diamonds,  could  affect 
or  purchase  the  sublime  and  noble  feelings  of  thy  heart  in 


that  single  self-moved  act,  when  thou  didst  deliberately  cast 
the  die  for  the  dubious,  the  very  dubious  alternative  of  a 
gibbet  or  triumphal  arch  !  But,  beloved,  enshielded,  and 
blessed  by  the  great  Melchisedec,  the  king  of  rightousness 
as  well  as  peace,  thou  hast  triumphed  gloriously.  Such  has 
been  thy  military  wisdom  in  the  struggles  of  this  arduous 
conflict,  such  the  noble  rectitude  of  thy  character  ;  some- 
thing is  there  so  singularly  glorious  and  venerable  thrown 
by  Heaven  about  thee,  that  not  only  does  thy  country  love 
thee,  but  our  very  enemies  stop  the  madness  of  their  fire  in 
full  volley,  stop  the  illiberality  of  their  slander,  at  the  name, 
as  if  rebuked  from  Heaven  with  *'  Touch  not  mine  anointed, 
and  do  my  hero  no  harm."  Thy.  fame  is  of  sweeter  per- 
fume than  Arabian  spices  in  the  gardens  of  Persia.  A 
Baron  de  Steuben  shall  waft  its  fragrance  to  the  monarch 
of  Prussia  ;  a  Marquis  de  Lafayette  shall  bear  it  to  a  much 
greater  monarch,  and  diffuse  they  renown  throughout 
Europe.  Listening  angels  shall  catch  the  odor,  waft  it  to 
heaven,  and  perfume  the  universe. 


WASHINGTON    AS    PRESIDENT. 

SPEECH    IN    PARLIAMENT,    1 794. 

CHARLES  JAMES   FOX. 

How  infinitely  superior  must  appear  the  spirit  and  prin- 
ciples of  General  Washington,  in  his  late  address  to  Con- 
gress, compared  with  the  policy  of  other  Europeon  courts  ! 
Illustrious  man  !  Deriving  honor  less  from  the  splendor 
of  his  situation  than  from  the  dignity  of  his  mind  !  Grate- 
ful to  France  for  the  assistance  received  from  her  in  that 
great  contest  which  secured  the  independence  of  America, 
he  yet  did  not  choose  to  give  up  the  system  of  neutrality  in 
her  favor.  Having  once  laid  down  the  line  of  conduct 
most  proper  to  be  pursued,  not  all  the  insults  and  provoca- 
tions of  the  French  minister  could  at  al!  put  him  out  of  his 
way  or  change  him  from  his  purpose.     It  must,  indeed, 


i6o 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASIOJ\r. 


WASHINGTON'S  BIRTHDAY. 


i6i 


create  astonishment  that,  placed  in  circumstances  so  criti- 
cal, and  filling  a  station  so  conspicuous,  the  character  of 
Washington  should  not  once  have  been  called  in  ques- 
tion ;  that  he  should,  in  no  instance,  have  been  accused 
either  of  improper  insolence  or  of  mean  submission,  in  his 
transactions  with  foreign  nations.  It  has  been  reserved 
for  him  to  run  the  race  of  glory  without  experiencing  the 
smallest  interruption  to  the  brilliancy  of  his  career.  The 
breath  of  censure  has  not  dared  to  impeach  the  purity  of 
his  conduct,  nor  the  eye  of  envy  to  raise  its  malignant 
glance  to  the  elevation  of  his  virtues.  Such  has  been  the 
transcendent  merit  and  the  unparalleled  fate  of  this 
illustrious  man  ! 


THE  GENIUS  OF  WASHINGTON. 

EDWIN   P.   Vl^HIPPLE. 

This  illustrious  man,  at  once  the  world's  admiration  and 
enigma,. we  are  taught  by  a  fine  instinct  to  venerate,  and  by 
a  wrong  opinion  to  misjudge.  The  might  of  his  character 
has  taken  strong  hold  upon  the  feelings  of  great  masses  of 
men  ;  but  in  translating  this  universal  sentiment  into  an 
intelligent  form,  the  intellectual  element  of  his  wonderful 
nature  is  as  much  depressed  as  the  moral  element  is  exalted, 
and  consequently  we  are  apt  to  misunderstand  both.  How 
many  times  have  we  been  told  that  he  was  not  a  man  of 
genius,  but  a  person  of  ''excellent  common  sense,"  of 
"  admirable  judgment,"  of  ''  rare  virtues  "  !  and,  by  constant 
repetition  of  this,  we  have  nearly  succeeded  in  divorcing 
comprehension  from  his  sense,  insight  from  his  judgment, 
force  from  his  virtues,  and  life  from  the  man. 

He  had  no  genius,  it  seems.  Oh,  no  !  genius,  we  must 
suppose,  is  the  peculiar  and  shining  attribute  of  some  orator 
whose  tongue  can  spout  patriotic  speeches,  or  some 
versifier  whose  muse  can  *'  Hail  Columbia,"  but  not  of  the 
man  who  supported  States  on  his  arm,  and  carried  America 
in  his  brain.     What  is  genius.^     Is  it  worth  anything.?     Is 


splendid  folly  the  measure  of  its  inspiration .?  Is  wisdom 
its  base  and  summit — that  which  it  recedes  from,  or  tends 
toward  ?  And  by  what  definition  do  you  award  the  name 
to  the  creator  of  an  epic,  and  deny  it  to  the  creator  of  a 
country  ?  On  what  principle  is  it  to  be  lavished  on  him 
who  sculptures  in  perishing  marble  the  image  of  possible 
excellence,  and  withheld  from  him  who  built  up  in  himself 
a  transcendent  character,  indestructible  as  the  obligations 
of  duty,  and  beautiful  as  her  rewards? 

Indeed,  if  by  the  genius  of  action  you  mean  will  en- 
lightened by  intelligence,  and  intelligence  energized  by 
will — if  force  and  insight  be  characteristics,  and  influence 
its  test — and,  especially  if  great  effects  suppose  a  cause 
proportionally  great,  that  is,  a  vital,  causative  mind — then 
is  Washington  most  assuredly  a  man  of  genius,  and  one 
whom  no  other  American  has  equaled  in  the  power  of 
working  morally  and  mentally  on  other  minds.  His 
genius,  it  is  true,  was  of  a  peculiar  kind  ;  the  genius  of 
character,  of  thought,  and  the  objects  of  thought  solidified 
and  concentrated  into  active  faculty.  He  belongs  to  that 
rare  class  of  men — rare  as  Homers  and  Miltons,  rare  as 
Platos  and  Newtons  who  have  impressed  their  characters 
upon  nations  without  pampering  national  vices.  Such  men 
have  natures  broad  enough  to  include  all  the  facts  of  a 
people's  practical  life,  and  deep  enough  to  discern  the 
spiritual  laws  which  underlie,  animate,  and  govern  those 
facts. 


EULOGY   OF   WASHINGTON. 

DELIVERED    FEBRUARY    8,    1 8oO. 


FISHER    AMES. 


It  is  natural  that  the  gratitude  of  mankind  should  be 
drawn  to  their  benefactors.  A  number  of  these  h^ve  suc- 
cessively arisen,  who  were  no  less  distinguished  for  the 
elevation  of  their  virtues  than  the  luster  of  their  talents. 


l62 


THOUGHTS  FOR    TH^  OCCAStOAT. 


Of  these,  however,  who  were  born  and  who  acted  through 
life  as  if  they  were  born,  not  for  themselves,  but  for  their 
country  and  the  whole  human  race,  how  few,  alas,  are 
recorded  in  the  long  annals  of  ages,  and  how  wide  the 
intervals  of  time  and  space  that  divide  them  !  In  all  this 
dreary  length  of  way,  they  appear  like  five  or  six  light- 
houses on  as  many  thousand  miles  of  coast ;  they  gleam 
upon  the  surrounding  darkness  with  an  inextinguishable 
splendor,  like  stars  seen  through  a  mist  ;  but  they  are  seen 
like  stars,  to  cheer,  to  guide,  and  to  save.  Washington  is 
now  added  to  that  small  number.  Already  he  attracts 
curiosity,  like  a  newly  discovered  star,  whose  benignant 
light  will  travel  on  to  the  world's  and  time's  farthest 
bounds.  Already  his  name  is  hung  up  by  history  as  con- 
spicuously as  if  it  sparkled  in  one  of  the  constellations  of 
the  sky. 

By  commemorating  his  death,  we  are  called  this  day  to 
yield  the  homage  that  is  due  to  virtue  ;  to  confess  the  com- 
mon debt  of  mankind,  as  well  as  our  own  ;  and  to  pro- 
nounce for  posterity,  now  dumb,  that  eulogium  which  they 
will  delight  to  echo  ten  ages  hence,  when  we  are  dumb. 

I  consider  myself  not  merely  in  the  midst  of  the  citizens 
of  this  town,  nor  even  of  the  State.  In  idea  I  gather 
around  me  the  nation.  In  the  vast  and  venerable  congre- 
gation of  the  patriots  of  all  countries,  and  of  all  enlightened 
men,  I  would,  if  I  could,  raise  my  voice,  and  speak  to  man- 
kind  in  a  strain  worthy  of  my  audience,  and  as  elevated  as 
my  subject.  But  you  have  assigned  me  a  task  that  is 
impossible. 

Oh,  if  I  could  perform  it,  if  I  could  illustrate  his  princi- 
ples in  my  discourse  as  he  displayed  them  in  his  life;  if  I 
could  paint  his  virtues  as  he  practiced  them  ;  if  I  could  con- 
vert the  fervid  enthusiasm  of  my  heart  into  the  talent  to 
transmit  his  fame  as  it  ought  to  pass  to  posterity,  I  should 
be  the  successful  organ  of  your  will,  the  minister  of  his 
virtues,  and,  may  I  dare  to  say,  the  humble  partaker  of  his 
immortal  glory.     These  are  ambitious,  deceiving  hopes,  and 


WASHINGTON'S  BIRTHDAY. 


163 


I  reject  them  ;  for  it  is,  perhaps,  almost  as  difficult  at  once 
with  judgment  and  feeling  to  praise  great  actions  as  to 
perform  them.  A  lavish  and  undistinguishing  eulogium  is 
not  praise  ;  and  to  discriminate  such  excellent  qualities  as 
were  characteristic  and  peculiar  to  him,  would  be  to  raise 
a  name,  as  he  raised  it,  above  envy,  above  parallel,  perhaps, 
for  that  very  reason,  above  emulation. 

How  great  he  appeared  while  he  administered  the  govern- 
ment, how  much  greater  when  he  retired  from  it  ;  how  he 
accepted  the  chief  military  command  under  his  wise  and 
upright  successor;  how  his  life  was  unspotted  like  his 
fame,  and  how  his  death  was  worthy  of  his  life,  are  so  many 
distinct  subjects  of  instruction,  and  each  of  them  singly 
more  than  enough  for  eulogium.  I  leave  the  task,  however, 
to  history  and  to  posterity  ;  they  will  be  faithful  to  it. 

There  has  scarcely  appeared  a  really  great  man  whose 
character  has  been  more  admired  in  his  lifetime,  or  less 
correctly  understood  by  his  admirers.  When  it  is  compre- 
hended, it  is  no  easy  task  to  delineate  its  excellences  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  give  the  portrait  both  interest  and 
resemblance  ;  for  it  requires  thought  and  study  to  under- 
stand the  true  ground  of  his  superiority  over  many  others, 
whom  he  resembled  in  the  principles  of  action,  and  even  in 
the  manner  of  acting.  But  perhaps  he  excels  all  the  great 
men  that  ever  lived  in  the  steadiness  of  his  adherence  to  his 
maxims  of  life,  and  in  the  uniformity  of  his  conduct  to  the 
same  maxims.  These  maxims,  though  wise,  were  yet  not 
so  remarkable  for  their  wisdom  as  for  their  authority  over 
his  life;  for  if  there  were  any  errors  in  his  judgment  (and 
he  discovered  as  few  as  any  man),  we  know  of  no  blemishes 
in  his  virtue. 

He  was  the  patriot  without  reproach  ;  he  loved  his 
country  enough  to  hold  his  success  in  serving  it  an  ample 
recompense.  Thus  far  self-love  and  love  of  country  coin- 
cided ;  but  when  his  country  needed  sacrifices  few  could,  or 
perhaps  would,  be  willing  to  make,  he  did  not  even  hesitate. 
This  was  virtue  in  its  most  exalted  character.     More  than 


164 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   0 CCA  SWAT. 


once  he  put  his  fame  at  hazard,  when  he  had  reason  to 
think  it  would  be  sacrificed,  at  least  in  this  age.  Two  in- 
stances cannot  be  denied  ;  when  the  army  was  disbanded, 
and  again  when  he  stood,  like  Leonidas  at  the  pass  of 
Thermopylae,  to  defend  our  independence  against  France. 
Epaminondas  is  perhaps  the  brightest  name  of  all  antiquity. 
Our  Washington  resembled  him  in  the  purity  and  ardor  of 
his  patriotism  ;  and,  like  him,  he  first  exalted  the  glory  of 
his  country.  There  it  is  to  be  hoped  the  comparison  ends  ; 
for  Thebes  fell  with  Epaminondas.  But  such  comparisons 
cannot  be  pursued  far,  without  departing  from  the  simili- 
tude. For  we  shall  find  it  as  difficult  to  compare  great 
men  as  great  rivers;  some  we  admire  for  the  length  and 
rapidity  of  their  current,  and  the  grandeur  of  their  cata- 
racts ;  others  for  the  majestic  silence  and  fullness  of  their 
streams  ;  we  cannot  bring  them  together  to  measure  the 
difference  of  their  waters.  The  unambitious  life  of  Wash- 
ington, declining  fame,  yet  courted  by  it,  seemed,  like  the 
Ohio,  to  choose  its  long  way  through  solitudes,  diffusing 
fertility  ;  or,  like  his  own  Potomac,  widening  and  deepen- 
ing his  channel  as  he  approaches  the  sea,  and  displaying 
most  of  the  usefulness  and  serenity  of  his  greatness  toward 
the  end  of  his  course.  Such  a  citizen  would  do  honor  to 
any  country.  The  constant  veneration  and  affection  of 
his  country  will  show  that  it  was  worthy  of  such  a  citizen. 


EULOGIUM   ON   WASHINGTON. 

CHARLES   PHILLIPS. 

It  matters  very  little  what  immediate  spot  may  be  the 
birthplace  of  such  a  man  as  Washington.  No  people  can 
claim,  no  country  can  appropriate  him  ;  the  boon  of  Prov- 
idence to  the  human  race,  his  fame  is  eternity  and  his 
residence  creation.  Though  our  arms  had  been  temporar- 
ily defeated,  and  our  policy  disgraced,  I  would  almost  bless 
the  convulsion  in  which  he  had  his  origin.     If  the  heavens 


WASHINGTON'S  BIRTHDAY, 


165 


thundered  and  the  earth  rocked,  yet  when  the  storm  passed 
how  pure  was  the  climate  that  it  cleared  ;  how  bright  in  the 
brow  of  the  firmament  was  the  planet  which  it  revealed  to 
us  !  In  the  production  of  Washington  it  does  really  appear 
as  if  Nature  was  endeavoring  to  improve  upon  herself,  and 
that  all  the  virtues  of  the  ancient  world  were  but  so  many 
studies  preparatory  to  the  patriot  of  the  new. 

Individual  instances  no  doubt  there  were— splendid 
exemplifications  of  some  single  qualification  :  Caesar  was 
merciful;  Scipio  was  continent;  Hannibal  was  patient; 
but  it  was  reserved  for  Washington  to  blend  them  all  in 
one,  and  like  the  lovely  chef-d'ceuvre  of  the  Grecian  artist, 
to  exhibit  in  one  glow  of  associated  beauty  the  pride  of 
every  model,  and  the  perfection  of  every  master.  As  a 
general  he  marshaled  the  peasant  into  a  veteran,  and  sup- 
plied by  discipline  the  absence  of  experience  ;  as  a  states- 
man  he  enlarged  the  policy  of  the  cabinet  into  the  most 
comprehensive  system  of  general  advantage  ;  and  such  was 
the  wisdom  of  his  views,  and  the  philosophy  of  his  counsels, 
that  to  the  soldier  and  the  statesman  he  almost  added  the 
character  of  the  sage  !  A  conqueror,  he  was  untainted 
with  the  crime  of  blood  ;  a  revolutionist,  he  was  free  from 
any  stain  of  treason  ;  for  aggression  commenced  the  con- 
test, and  his  country  called  him  to  the  command. 

Liberty  unsheathed  his  sword  ;  necessity  stained,  victory 
returned  it.  If  he  had  paused  here,  history  might  have 
doubted  what  station  to  assign  him  ;  whether  at  the  head 
of  her  citizens  or  her  soldiers— her  heroes  or  her  patriots. 
But  the  last  glorious  act  crowns  his  career  and  banishes  all 
hesitation.  Who,  like  Washington,  after  having  eman- 
cipated  a  hemisphere,  resigned  his  crown,  and  preferred 
the  retirement  of  domestic  life  to  the  adoration  of  a  land 
he  might  be  almost  said  to  have  created  ? 

How  shall  we  rank  thee  upon  glory's  page , 
Thou  more  than  soldier  and  just  less  than  sage ; 
All  thou  hast  been  reflects  less  fame  on  thee, 
Far  less  than  all  thou  hast  foreborne  to  be ! 


i66 


THOUGHTS  FOR   THE  OCCASION. 


Such,  sir,  is  the  testimony  of  one  not  to  be  accused  of 
partiality  in  his  estimate  of  America.  Happy,  proud 
America!  The  lightnings  of  heaven  yielded  to  your 
philosophy  !  The  temptations  of  earth  could  not  seduce 
your  patriotism ! 


WASHINGTON    A    MODEL    FOR    THE     FORMA- 

TION    OF   CHARACTER. 

WM.   WIRT. 

You  need  not  turn  your  eyes  to  ancient  Greece,  or 
Rome,  or  to  modern  Europe.  You  have  in  your  own 
Washington  a  recent  model,  whom  you  have  only  to  imitate 
to  become  immortal. 

Nor  must  you  suppose  that  he  owed  his  greatness  to  the 
peculiar  crisis  which  called  out  his  virtues,  and  despair  of 
such  another  crisis  for  the  display  of  your  own.  His  more 
than  Roman  virtues,  his  consummate  prudence,  his  powerful 
intellect,  and  his  dauntless  decision  and  dignity  of  character 
would  have  done  nothing  for  him,  had  not  his  character 
stood  ready  to  match  it.  Acquire  his  character,  and  fear 
not  the  recurrence  of  a  crisis  to  show  forth  its  glory.  Look 
at  the  elements  of  commotion  that  are  already  at  work  in 
this  vast  republic,  and  threatening  us  with  moral  earthquake 
that  will  convulse  it  to  its  foundation. 

Look  at  the  political  degeneracy  which  pervades  the 
country,  and  which  has  already  borne  us  so  far  away  from 
the  golden  age  of  the  Revolution  ;  look  at  all  *<the  signs 
of  the  times,"  and  you  will  see  but  little  cause  to  indulge 
the  hope  that  no  crisis  is  likely  to  recur  to  give  full  scope 
for  the  exercise  of  the  most  heroic  virtues.  Hence  it  is 
that  I  so  anxiously  hold  up  to  you  the  model  of  Washington. 
Form  yourselves  on  that  noble  model.  Strive  to  acquire 
his  modesty,  his  disinterestedness,  his  singleness  of  heart, 
his  determined  devotion  to  his  country,  his  candor  in 
deliberation,  his  accuracy  of  judgment,  his  invincible  firra- 


WASHINGTON'S  BIRTHDAY, 


167 


ness  of  resolve,  and  then  may  you  hope  to  be  in  your  own 
age  what  he  was  in  his :  *'  first  in  war,  first  in  peace,  and 
first  in  the  hearts  of  your  countrymen." 

Commence  your  career  with  this  high  standard  of 
character,  your  course  will  be  as  steady  as  the  needle  to 
the  pole  ;  your  end  will  always  be  virtuous,  your  means 
always  noble  ;  you  will  adorn  as  well  as  bless  your  country  ; 
you  will  exalt  and  illustrate  the  age  in  which  you  live  ; 
your  example  will  shake  like  a  tempest  that  pestilential 
pool  in  which  the  virtues  of  our  people  are  all  ready  to 
stagnate,  and  restore  the  waters  and  the  atmosphere  to 
their  Revolutionary  purity. 


George  William  Curtis  has  said  in  a  sentence  worthy 
to  be  inscribed  on  the  birthplace  and  tomb  of  the  Father  of 
his  Country  :  "  The  value  of  Washington  to  his  country 
transcends  that  of  any  other  man  to  any  land." 

Irving  said  in  1855  :  "The  fame  of  Washington  stands 
apart  from  every  other  in  history,  shining  with  a  truer  luster 
and  a  more  benignant  glory."  This  was  true  then,  it  is  true 
now,  and  likely  to  be  so  to  the  end  of  time. 

Within  a  few  years  certain  writers  have  had  the  hardi- 
hood to  attempt  disparagement  of  so  majestic  a  personality, 
but  their  efforts  will  be  forgotten  with  themselves. 


Lord  Brougham's  declaration  will  receive  more  frequent 
confirmations  and  illustrations  as  the  ages  pass  : 

"  It  will  be  the  duty  of  the  historian  and  the  sage  of  all 
nations  to  let  no  occasion  pass  of  commemorating  this 
illustrious  man,  and  until  time  shall  be  no  more  will  a  test 
of  the  progress  which  our  race  has  made  in  wisdom  and 
virtue  be  derived  from  the  veneration  paid  to  the  immortal 
name  of  Washington." 


i68 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION'. 


THE    GREAT    MAN'S    BIOGRAPHY    IN    A    NUT- 
SHELL. 

George  Washington  was  born  in  1732.  As  a  matter 
of  easy  reference  the  following  example  of  condensed  bio- 
graphy, prepared  by  R.  E.  Roberts,  will  be  found  both 
convenient  and  instructive : 

George  Washington,  the  Father  of  his  Country  ;  Born  February  22, 

1732. 
Married  at  the  age  of  27  years  in 

1759- 
Chosen  commander-in-chief  of  the  army, 

1775. 
Declined  a  kingly  crown, 

1782. 

Resigned  command  of  the  army  and  became  a  private  citizen, 

1783. 
President  of  the  Convention  which  framed  the  Constitution  of  the 

United   States, 

1787. 
Chosen  first  President  of  the  United  States, 

1789. 
Chosen  President  for  the  second  term, 

1793. 
Determined  to    retire    to  private  life,  he    issued    his  Farewell 

Address, 

1796. 

Retires  to  private  life, 

1797. 
He  died  in  the  68th  year  of  his  age,  December  14, 

1799. 


WASHINGTON, 

The  defender  of  his  country — the  founder  of  liberty — the  friend 
of  man.  History  and  tradition  are  explored  in  vain  for  a  parallel 
to  his  character.  In  the  annals  of  modern  greatness  he  stands 
alone ;  and  the  noblest  names  of  antiquity  lose  their  luster  in  his 
presence.  Born  the  benefactor  of  mankind,  he  united  all  the  quali- 
ties necessary  to  an  illustrious  career.    Nature  made  him  great ; 


WASHINGTON'S  BIRTHDAY, 


169 


he  made  himself  virtuous.  Called  by  his  country  to  the  defense  of 
her  liberties,  he  triumphantly  vindicated  the  rights  of  humanity, 
and  on  the  pillars  of  national  independence  laid  the  foundations  of 
a  great  republic.  Twice  invested  with  Supreme  Magistracy  by  the 
unanimous  vote  of  a  free  people,  he  surpassed  in  the  cabinet  the 
glories  of  the  field,  and,  voluntarily  resigning  the  scepter  and  the 
sword,  retired  to  the  shades  of  private  life.  A  spectacle  so  new 
and  so  sublime  was  contemplated  with  the  profoundest  admiration, 
and  the  name  of  Washington,  adding  new  luster  to  humanity, 
resounded  to  the  remotest  regions  of  the  earth  ;  magnanimous  in 
youth,  glorious  through  life,  great  in  death  ;  his  highest  ambition, 
the  happiness  of  mankind  ;  his  noblest  victory,  the  conquest  of 
himself.  Bequeathing  to  posterity  the  inheritance  of  his  fame,  and 
building  his  monument  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen,  he  lived 
the  ornament  of  the  eighteenth  century ;  he  died  regretted  by  a 
mourning  world. 

[The  author  of  the  above  composition  is  not  known. 
It  was  written  on  the  back  of  a  portrait  of  Washington  in 
the  mansion  at  Mount  Vernon,  some  time  after  Washing- 
ton's death.] 


WASHINGTON   MONUMENT. 

The  Washington  monument  vv'as  dedicated  February  21, 
1885,  with  military,  civic,  and  Masonic  ceremonies,  and  a 
speech  by  President  Arthur.  Senator  Edmunds  presided. 
The  oration,  prepared  by  Robert  C.  Winthrop  of  Massa- 
chusetts, was  read  by  Representative  Long.  After  the 
reading.  Representative  Daniel  of  Virginia  delivered  an 
address. 

HISTORY   OF   THE   UNDERTAKING. 

The  history  of  the  memorial  to  Washington  dates  back 
over  a  hundred  years.  At  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary 
War  the  Continental  Congress  resolved  unanimously  that 
an  equestrian  statue  of  Washington  should  be  erected  at 
the  place  where  the  residence  of  Congress  should  be  estab- 
lished.    It  was  to  be  supported  by  a  miirble  pedestal,  on 


lyo 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


which  the  four  principal  events  of  the  Revolutionary  War 
in  which  Washington  commanded  were  to  be  represented. 
Nothing  was  done  till  after  his  death,  when  it  was  resolved, 
among  other  things,  December  24,  1799,  that  a  marble 
monument  be  erected  by  the  United  States  at  the  City  of 
Washington,  under  which  the  remains  were  to  be  deposited. 
The  following  year  a  mausoleum  was  ordered  and  $200,000 
appropriated  by  Congress.  After  twenty-five  years  Mr. 
Buchanan,  then  a  member  of  the  House,  introduced  a  reso- 
lution inquiring  what  had  become  of  the  project  to  erect 
the  monument,  but  his  resolution  was  tabled.  On  the  13th 
of  February,  1832,  the  first  centenary  of  Washington's 
birth,  Mr.  Clay,  in  the  Senate,  offered  a  resolution  to  make 
arrangements  to  celebrate  that  event,  and  again  the  request 
was  made  that  the  remains  of  Washington  should  be  de- 
posited in  the  Capital.  Virginia's  representatives  opposed 
the  removal  of  the  remains,  for  a  similar  bequest  for  their 
interment  in  Richmond  had  been  refused  by  the  relatives 
of  Washington.  In  that  year  Greenough's  statue,  now  at 
the  east  of  the  Capitol,  was  ordered  and  placed  in  the 
rotunda  in  1811.  In  1853,  Congress  appropriated  $50,000 
for  the  equestrian  statue  which  was  erected  in  Washington 
circle  near  Georgetown. 


THE   PRESENT    MONUMENT. 

Citizens  began  as  early  as  1833  to  form  an  association 
for  erecting  a  great  national  monument  to  the  memory  of 
Washington.  This  was  the  original  idea  of  Congress,  and 
as  there  seemed  no  probability  of  its  being  carried  out 
according  to  the  original  design,  this  voluntary  association 
formed  itself  and  invoked  the  aid  of  the  whole  people  of 
the  country  to  redeem  the  plighted  faith  of  their  repre- 
sentatives. Chief  Justice  Marshall  was  the  first  president 
of  the  association.  At  his  death,  in  1835,  he  was  succeeded 
by  ex-President  Madison,  then  in  his  eighty-fifth  year. 
The  first  vice  president  of  the  society  was  Mr.  William 
Cranch,  eminent  for  purity  of  life  and  as  a  jurist.     The 


WASHINGTON'S  BIRTHDAY. 


171 


progress  of  the  society  was  slow.  It  first  started  out  on 
the  theory  that  in  order  to  allow  all  an  opportunity  to  con- 
tribute, the  amount  to  be  received  from  any  one  person 
should  be  limited  to  one  dollar  a  year.  This  restriction  was 
removed  in  1845.  In  1836  about  $28,000  had  been  col- 
lected. This  fund  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  gentlemen 
of  high  respectability  and  character,  who  invested  it,  to- 
gether with  its  interest,  in  stocks.  The  financial  troubles 
which  overspread  the  country  in  1837  caused  a  suspension 
of  collections  for  some  time.  In  1847,  collections  and 
accumulated  interest  amounted  to  $87,000,  which  was 
deemed  a  sufficient  sum  with  which  to  commence  the 
erection  of  the  monument.  On  the  31st  of  January,  1848, 
Congress  passed  a  resolution  authorizing  the  Washington 
Monumental  Society  to  erect  a  monument  to  the  memory 
of  George  Washington,  and  gave  the  present  site  of  thirty 
acres  for  that  purpose,  it  being  the  geographical  center  of 
the  District  of  Columbia,  ten  miles  square. 

One  plan  of  the  monument  proposed  an  obelisk  517  feet 
high  and  a  pantheon,  or  steeple,  the  whole  to  cost  $1,122,- 
000.  The  late  Horace  Greeley  said  the  plan  reminded  him 
of  a  pumpkin  with  a  stick  stuck  in  it. 

LAYING  THE  CORNER  STONE. 

On  the  4th  of  July,  1848,  the  corner  stone  of  this  monu- 
ment  was  laid  in  the  presence  of  President  Polk  and  his 
Cabinet,  Vice  President  Dallas  and  the  Senate,  Congress- 
men, Supreme  Court,  corporate  authorities  at  Washington, 
Georgetown,  and  Alexandria,  and  delegations  from  all 
quarters  of  the  Union.  Robert  C.  Winthrop,  then  Speaker 
of  the  House,  delivered  an  oration.  In  six  years  the 
height  of  107  feet  had  been  reached,  and  the  funds  of  the 
society  exhausted.  An  appeal  to  Congress  was  not  heeded, 
and  in  1859,  when  the  work  stopped,  the  shaft  was  only  174 
feet  high.  The  war  interrupted  the  work  and  the  labors 
of  the  society.  In  April,  187 1,  the  Legislature  of  New 
York   appropriated  $—000,   as   the   contribution   of    the 


172 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


State  of  New  York  to  the  treasurer  of  the  Washhigton 
National  Monumental  Society,  whenever  the  Governor 
should  certify  a  sufficient  fund  had  been  subscribed  from 
other  sources  to  enable  the  society  to  resume  its  work,  with 
a  reasonable  prospect  of  completing  the  shaft.  The  appro- 
priation was  never  available. 

In  February,  1873,  an  appeal  was  made  to  Congress  to 
assume  the  responsibility  of  finishing  the  structure.  The 
appropriation  subsequently  made  was  first  expended  in 
strengthening  the  foundation,  as  it  was  determined  to  carry 
the  height  to  550  feet.  When  this  was  begun  the  super- 
structure was  estimated  to  weigh  about  thirty-two  thousand 
tons.  Trenches  were  dug  and  filled  in  with  Portland 
cement  and  every  appliance  used  to  detect  the  slightest 
deviation  of  the  monument  from  its  equilibrium.  Even  a 
slight  depression  at  one  of  the  corners  was  thus  remedied 
by  the  engineer's  art.  In  excavating  under  the  old  founda- 
tion the  fact  was  disclosed  that  the  work  upon  it  was  not 
of  the  most  substantial  character.  The  mortar  in  the  stone 
work  seems  to  have  been  defective,  or  did  not  set  owing  to 
moisture,  and  the  result  was  a  honeycomb  of  interstices 
between  the  stones.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  it  was  a 
wise  precaution  to  expend  the  first  appropriation  in  making 
the  foundation  as  solid  and  as  enduring  as  a  rock.  The 
first  appropriation  of  $200,000,  made  in  1876,  did  not  con- 
template an  expenditure  of  any  part  of  it  underground,  but 
when  the  report  of  the  joint  commission  was  made  on  the 
necessity  for  such  work,  one-half  that  sum  was  given  to 
make  the  foundation  secure.  This  work  was  delayed  until 
October,  1878,  and  completed  the  following  year. 


WORK  RESUMED. 

It  was  not  until  the  7th  of  August,  1880,  that  work  on 
the  shaft  was  resumed.  On  that  day  Mr.  Hayes  and  his 
wife,  officers  of  the  society,  and  engineers  repaired  to  the 
summit,  and  Mr.  Hayes  placed  a  small  coin,  upon  which 
was  scratched  his  initials  and  the  day,  month,  and  year,  on 


WASHINGTON'S  BIRTHDAY. 


173 


the  mortar.  It  was  a  strange  coincidence  that  the  month 
was  eight  and  the  day  seven — ominously  enough  the  vote 
of  the  Electoral  Commission  which  made  Mr.  Hayes 
President. 

The  new  marble  and  the  old  are  distinct.  To  the  height 
of  174  feet  it  is  weather-beaten  and  colored  by  nearly  thirty- 
four  years  of  exposure.  When  the  work  practically  stopped 
in  1855,  the  Know  Nothing  party  was  active,  and  sentiment 
ran  high  against  the  society  using  the  memorial  stone  sent 
by  Pius  IX.  to  the  association.  To  prevent  its  use  a 
number  of  men  one  night  in  1855  captured  the  watchman, 
broke  the  stone  in  fragments,  and  then  conveyed  the  pieces 
in  a  boat  to  the  Potomac  channel  and  threw  them  into  the 
river.  The  Know  Nothings  also  attempted  to  get  control 
of  the  society  and  the  building  of  the  monument,  but 
failed. 

The  shaft  rests  on  a  foundation  35  feet  deep.  It  is  at 
the  base  55  feet  square,  and  at  the  height  of  500  feet, 
where  the  pyramidal  roof  begins,  it  is  34  feet  square.  The 
stones  contributed  by  States,  cities,  countries,  and  corpora- 
tions number  over  one  hundred,  and  have  been  used  to 
some  extent.  The  capstone  was  set  December  6,  1884, 
making  the  total  height  555  feet.  There  are  900  steps  in 
the  ascent,  requiring  twenty  minutes  to  reach  the  eyes  or 
little  windows  which  are  lookouts  on  four  sides  of  the  roof 
just  above  the  line  of  the  main  shaft.  Its  estimated  weight 
is  82,000  tons,  and  the  cost  in  round  numbers  was  $1,200,000. 
The  top  is  also  reached  by  a  passenger  elevator,  and  the 
electric  light  makes  the  interior  as  bright  as  day. 


STONES   FOR   THE   MONUMENT 

When  the  Washington  Monument  movement  was  started 
memorial  stones  were  sent  from  all  parts  of  the  country, 
and  from  many  of  the  foreign  governments,  to  be  incor- 
porated in  the  structure.  Forty  of  these  stones  were  built 
into  the  old  part  of  the  monument.  Many  came  from  the 
various   Odd    Fellow   and    Masonic  organizations   of  the 


174 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


United  States.  The  Philadelphia  and  New  York  fire  depart- 
ments furnished  two  great  slabs  elaborately  cut.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  Dramatic  Association  of  America  are  repre- 
sented by  a  large  square  block  of  pure  white  marble,  from 
the  center  of  which  rises  a  large  life-size  medallion  of 
Shakespeare,  over  whose  head  are  carved  the  letters,  "  All 
that  live  must  die."  Many  of  the  States  sent  memorial 
blocks.  Nevada's  is  a  cube  of  gray  granite  about  four  feet 
in  diameter,  and  the  name  of  the  State  is  written  upon  it  in 
letters  of  silver,  the  strokes  of  which  are  an  inch  wide  and 
are  inlaid  on  the  solid  stone.  Kansas  boasts  a  coat-of-arms 
upon  its  blocks,  as  do  also  several  other  States. 

The  foreign  stones  are  the  finest  of  the  collection.  That 
of  the  Swiss  Confederation  is  of  granite,  beautifully  polished, 
with  a  face  six  feet  long  and  four  feet  wide,  on  which  is 
inscribed  in  bronzed  letters,  *'  To  the  memory  of  Washing- 
ton." Brazil  sent  a  beautiful  gray  marble  cube  bearing  the 
imperial  coat  of  arms.  China  a  slab  of  green  stone,  covered 
with  characters.  The  Mormons  are  represented  by  a  bee- 
hive carved  in  stone,  and  a  label  showing  that  it  came  from 
Deseret,  and  above  it  is  written  the  watchword  of  the 
Church,  ''  Holiness  to  the  Lord." 

SOME    OF   THE   INSCRIPTIONS. 

The  largest  and  finest  stone  is  presented  by  the  "  Cor- 
poration of  Philadelphia,"  and  is  so  inscribed.  The 
**  Bremen  "  and  "  Greece  "  come  next  in  size  and  beauty. 
One  is  inscribed,  "  The  Closophic  Society,  N.  J.";  another, 
**  Jefferson  Society,  Va."  Then  there  are  stones  inscribed  : 
"Oldest  Inhabitants,  D.  C,  1870,"  "American  Medical 
Association,"  "  Nebraska,"  "  The  Sons  of  New  England  in 
Canada,"  "  Arabia,"  "China,"  "Brazil,"  "Kansas,  1861," 
"Nevada,  i88t,"  "Georgia  Convention,  1850,"  "Sabbath 
School,  Philadelphia,  1853."  There  is  a  stone  inscribed 
"  From  the  Temple  of  Esculapius,  Island  of  Paros,  1855." 
Another,  "The  Free  Swiss  Confederation,  1870,"  and 
"  Engine  Company,  Northern  Liberty,  Philadelphia,"  "  Fire 


WASHINGTON'S  BIRTHDAY. 


175 


Department,  Philadelphia,  1852,"  "  Lafayette  Masons,  New 
York  city,  1853,"  "Grand  Lodge  of  Pennsylvania,  1851," 
and  "Continental  Guard,  New  Orleans,  1856  ";  the  last  two 
named  being  very  large  stones. 

"  Grand  Division,  Sons  of  Temperance  of  Illinois,  1855," 
makes  one  stone.  "  Battle  Ground,  Long  Island  "  and 
"  From  Braddock's  Field  "  mark  two  interesting  rocks, 
"  Charlestown,  the  Bunker  Hill  Battle  Ground,"  with  a 
representation  of  the  Bunker  Hill  monument,  appears  upon 
another.      The  block    engraved  "Michigan"  is  of  solid 

copper. 

"  The  State  of  Louisiana— Ever  Faithful  to  the  Constitu- 
tion and  the  Union,"  and  "  Tennessee— The  Federal 
Union,  It  Must  Be  Preserved,"  are  two  inscriptions  con- 
taining a  world  of  meaning.  They  were  sent  many  years 
before  the  war,  when  the  only  talk  of  secession  came  from 
away  north  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line.  The  following  are 
also  represented  as  herewith  given  :  "  Cherokee  Nation, 
1855,"  "Templars  of  Honor  and  Temperance— Truth, 
Love,  Purity,  and  Fidelity,"  "  New  York,"  with  a  coat  of 
arms,  a  shield  marked  "Excelsior,"  "Salem,  Mass.," 
and  "  Vermont,"  with  a  shield,  "  Freedom,  and  Unity." 

One  sandstone  block,  twelve  by  twenty  inches,  sent  by 
Switzerland,  is  inscribed  :  "  This  block  of  stone  is  from 
the  original  chapel  built  to  William  Tell,  in  1338,  on  Lake 
Lucerne,  Switzerland,  at  the  spot  where  he  escaped  from 
Gessler." 

TO    BE    USED    HEREAFTER. 

These  stones  are  now  lying  in  the  lapidarium,  a  wooden 
building  near  the  monument.  Many  of  them  are  large, 
elaborately  carved,  and  must  have  cost  thousands  of 
dollars.  They  have  inscribed  upon  them  the  names  of  the 
giver,  usually  with  date  and  motto.  Some  were  placed  in 
the  monument  by  the  original  Washington  Monumental 
Society,  but  since  the  Government  has  taken  hold  of  the 
work  none  of  them  have  been  used.  They  will  probably  be 
inserted  in  front  of  the  platforms. 


176 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASIOI^. 


The  monument  is  surrounded  by  thirty  acres  of  ground. 
It  lies  on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac,  and  when  the  electric 
lights  are  burning  on  its  top  it  is  said  they  can  be  seen 
thirty  miles  away.  One  gets  no  idea  of  the  immensity  of 
the  monument  in  looking  at  it  from  a  distance.  It  is  only 
when  you  come  close  up  to  it  that  you  appreciate  the  fact 
that  nearly  a  hundred  thousand  tons  of  stone  are  looking 
down  upon  you.  Each  of  those  sides  which  at  a  distance 
look  no  more  than  two  feet  broad  at  the  base  are  fifty-five 
feet.  It  is  a  good-sized  house  that  has  twenty  feet  front, 
and  each  side  of  this  monument  at  its  foot,  if  located  in  a 
residence  part  of  the  city,  would  cover  as  much  space  as 
three  good-sized  dwellings. 

New  York  Weekly  Witness. 

George  Washington,  the  father  of  our  country,  con- 
cerning whom  Fox,  in  the  British  Parliament,  exclaimed  : 
''Illustrious  man  !  Deriving  less  honor  from  the  splendor 
of  his  situation  than  from  the  dignity  of  his  mind  ;  before 
whom  all  borrowed  greatness  sinks  into  insignificance,  and 
all  the  princes  and  potentates  of  Europe  become  little  and 
contemptible." 

Phillips,  the  Irish  orator  said  :  ''  Csesar  was  merciful  ; 
Scipio  was  continent  ;  Hannibal  was  patient — but  it  was 
reserved  for  Washington  to  blend  all  these  virtues  in  one, 
and,  like  the  lovely  masterpiece  of  the  Grecian  artist,  to 
exhibit  in  one  glow  of  associated  beauty,  the  pride  of 
every  model,  and  the  perfection  of  every  master.  .  .  His 
fame  is  eternity,  and  his  residence  is  creation." 

Napoleon  the  Great  announced  Washington's  death  to 
the  army  of  France,  and  ordered  all  the  standards  and  flags 
throughout  the  country  to  be  bound  with  crape  for  ten  days, 
during  which  a  funeral  oration  was  delivered,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  a  brilliant  assemblage,  including  Bonaparte,  in  the 
Hotel  des  Invalides. 


WASHINGTON'S  BIRTHDAY. 

LEGEND  BY  BISHOP  M.  SIMPSON. 

In  youth  true. 

In  manhood  brave, 
In  age  wise, 

In  memory  immortal. 


177 


HAIL!   COLUMBIA. 

JOS.  HOPKINSON. 

Sound,  sound  the  trump  of  Fame ! 
Let  Washington's  great  name 

Ring  through  the  world  with  loud  applause  ; 
Let  every  clime  to  Freedom  dear 
Listen  with  a  joyful  ear. 

With  equal  skill,  with  god-like  power, 

He  governs  in  the  fearful  hour 
Of  horrid  war,  or  guides  with  ease. 
The  happier  times  of  honest  peace. 

Behold  the  chief,  who  now  commands, 
Once  more  to  serve  his  country  stands— 
The  rock  on  which  the  storm  will  beat. 
But  armed  in  virtue,  firm  and  true. 
His  hopes  are  fixed  on  Heaven  and  you. 
When  hope  was  sinking  in  dismay 
When  glooms  obscured  Columbia's  day, 
His  steady  mind,  from  changes  free, 
Resolved  on  death  or  liberty  ! 


INDEPENDENCE  DAY. 

The  Historical  Facts  that  enter  into  the  origin  of  this  day  are 
brief  but  important  (aside  from  the  causes  of  the  Revolution). 
Rhode  Island  was  the  first  of  all  the  colonies  to  declare  itself  "  free 
from  all  dependence  on  the  Crown  of  Great  Britain  " ;  this  was 
done  May  4,  1776.     Early  in  the  same  year  the  delegates  in  Con- 
gress from  Massachusetts  were  directed  to  vote  for  independence 
from  England,  and  in  May  of  the  same  year  the  Assembly  of 
Virginia  instructed  her  delegates  to  the  Continental  Congress  to 
present  to  that  body  a  proposition  affirming  the  independence  of 
the  colonies.     Afterward  other  colonies  sent  similar  instructions. 
Washington  wrote,  "  A  reconciliation  with  Great  Britain  is  impos- 
sible.    When  I  took  command  of  the  army,  1775.  ^  abhorred  the 
idea  of  independence,  but  I  am  quite  fully  satisfied  that  nothing 
else  will  save  us."     Pennsylvania  and  New  York  were  the  last  to 
acquiesce  in  the  demand  for  a  declaration.     The  tenor  of  these 
instructions  to  the  delegates  from  their  constituents  was  in  favor 
of  cutting  loose  from  Great  Britain  entirely  and  forming  an  inde- 
pendent   government.     In    compliance  with    these    instructions, 
Richard  Henry  Lee  of  Virginia,  on  June  7.  1776.  introduced  his 
famous  resolutions:  "That  these  United  Colonies  are  and  of  right 
ought  to  be  free  and  independent  States ;  that  they  are  absolved 
from  all  allegiance  to  the  British  Crown,  and  that  all  political  con- 
nection between  them  and  the  State  of  Great  Britain  is  and  ought 
to  be  totally  dissolved.     That  it  is  expedient  forthwith  to  take  the 
most  effectual  measures  for  forming  foreign  alliances.     That  a 
plan  of  confederation  be  prepared  and  transmitted  to  the  respec- 
tive  colonies   for  their    consideration   and    approbation."    John 
Adams  seconded  these  resolutions,  and  an  animated  discussion 
ensued.     On  June  8,  1776,  a  committee  of  five,  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son, John  Adams,  Benjamin  Franklin,  Roger  Sherman,  and  Robert 
R.  Livingston,  was  appointed  to  draft  a  declaration  of  independ- 
ence, embodying  the  sense  of  Lee's  resolutions.    This  committee 
reported  June  11,  but  action  was  delayed  as  the  Ne\y  York  and 
Pennsylvania  Congressmen,  having  received  no  special  instruction, 
thought  they  had  no  authority  to  vote  for  the  Declaration.    On 
July  3,  the  formal   Declaration,  almost  precisely   as  written  by 
Thomas  Jefferson,  was  presented  by  the  committee  as  above  named, 
and  was  debated  with  great  spirit,  John  Adams  being  the  chief 
speaker    on   the   part   of   the  committee.     The    discussion   was 
resumed  on  the  morning  of  the  4th,  and  at  2  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon, after  one  or  two  slight  modifications,  it  was  adopted  by  the 

181 


l82 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


vote  of  every  delegate.    The  vote  was  taken  by  colonies  and  every 
colony  gave  unanimous  approval.    It  was  immediately  signed  by  the 
names  of  fifty-six  members  present,  after  which  Thomas  Jefferson 
said,  "We  must  all  hang  together,  or  we  shall  certainly  all  hang 
separately.       The    announcement   was    hailed   with  the  liveliest 
enthusiasm.     "Ring!   Ring!"   shouted  the  lad  stationed  below 
to  give  the  signal  to  the  old  bellman  in  the  State  House  tower 
Philadelphia ;  and  he  did  ring  till  the  whole  city  shouted  for  joy! 
The   King's   arms   were   wrenched  from  the  Court   House  and 
burned  m  the  streets,  bonfires  were  lighted,  the  city  illuminated 
and  the  exaltation  was  prolonged  far  into  the  night.     In  New  York 
City  the  populace  hurled  the  leaden  statue  of  George  III.  from  its 
pedestal  at  Bowling  Green,  and  molded  it  into  bullets,  and  in  all 
thegreat  cities  similar  demonstrations  of  enthusiasm  were  exhibited. 
Washington  had  the  Declaration  read  at  the  head  of  every  brigade 
of  the  army  and  the  soldiers  pledged  fealty  to  the  cause  of  Inde- 
pendence.    As  soon  as  the  Declaration  could  be  printed,  it  went 
forth,  not  only  as  the  defiant  answer  of  the  colonies  to  the  demands 
of  the  mother  country,  but  as  a  claim  for  the  political  emancipa- 
tion of  mankind.  * 


DATA   OF   IMPORTANT    EVENTS   LEADING    TO    THE 
ADOPTION  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

I777»  November  15.     Articles  of  confederation   and  perpetual 
union  of  the  States,  agreed  to  by  delegates  in  congress  assembled 
Signed  by  the  delegates  of  the  thirteen  States  at  Philadelphia* 
July  9,  1778.  ^ 

1781,  October  19.     Cornwallis  surrendered  at  Yorktown,  Va. 

1782,  November  30.    Preliminary  articles   of  peace  signed  at 
Paris.  ** 

1783,  April  19.    Cessation  of  hostilities  proclaimed  in  the  Ameri- 
can Army. 

1783.  July  II.     British  evacuated  Savannah,  Ga. 
1783,  September  3.     Definite  treaty  of  peace  signed  at  Paris 
1783,  November  3.     American  Army  disbanded. 
1783,  November  25.     British  evacuated  New  York. 
1783,  December  23.     Washington  resigns  his  commission 
1787,  September  17.     The  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
adopted  by  Congress  and  signed  by  George  Washington.  President' 
and  Deputy  from  Virginia,  and  of  the  Independence  of  the  U  S  a' 
the    I2th.     Preamble:    Whereas  we,  the   people  of  the  United 
States,  m  order  to  form  a  more  perfect  union,  establish  justice 
insure  domestic  tranquillity,  provide  for  the  common  defense  pro- 
mote the  general  welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to 
ourselves  and  our  posterity,  do  ordain  and  establish  this  Constitu- 
tion for  the  United  States  of  America  [see  document].    To  which 
titteen  amendments  have  been  added. 


INDEPENDENCE  DAY. 


183 


GOVERNMENTAL    RECOGNITION    OF    THE     UNITED 

STATES. 

France  acknowledged  the  independence  of  the  American  col- 
onies, February  6,  1778,  and  signed  a  treaty  of  alliance  and 
commerce  with  the  American  Embassy.  The  alliance  clause  was 
regarded  and  treated  by  England  as  a  declaration  of  war  by 
France,  and   the  two   nations  immediately  began  to  prepare  for 

hostilities.  ,  .     .    tt  n     j 

Holland.— Great  Britain  declared  war  against  Holland, 
December  25, 1780,  on  learning  that  Holland  was  engaged  m  nego- 
tiating a  commercial  treaty  with  the  colonies.  Holland  recognized 
the  independence  of  the  colonies,  April  19,  1782. 

Great  Britain.— In  the  early  part  of  1782  several  earnest 
attempts  were  made  by  the  British  Pariiament  to  terminate  the 
war  against  the  colonies,  but  the  king  and  ministry  persisted  in 
their  efforts  toward  subjugation.  On  March  4  the  Commons  re- 
solved, "  That  all  who  advise  the  king  to  continue  the  war  shall  be 
regarded  as  public  enemies."  The  administration  of  Lord  North 
came  to  an  end  March  20,  and  a  strong  peace  party  succeeded 
The  summer  of  1782  was  largely  spent  in  correspondence  and 
negotiations.  Preliminary  peace  articles  were  signed  at  Paris, 
November  30,  by  Richard  Oswald  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain, 
and  by  John  Adams,  Benjamin  Franklin,  John  Jay,  and  Henry 
Laurens  on  the  part  of  the  United  States.  o         j 

Congress  proclaimed  cessation  of  hostilities,  April  11,  1783,  and 
ratified  the  preliminary  treaty  with  Great  Britain,  April  15.  The 
congressional  proclamation  was  read  to  the  army,  April  19. 

The  last  international  act  in  the  revolution  was  consummated 
September  23,  when  a  definite  treaty  was  signed  by  David  Hartly 
on  the  part  of  Great  Britain,  and  by  Benjamin  Franklin,  John 
Adams,  and  John  Jay  on  the  part  of  the  United  States.  The 
treaty  fully  conceded  the  independence  of  the  American  States, 
secured  boundaries  extending  north  to  the  great  lakes  and  west  of 
the  Mississippi,  restored  the  two  Floridas  to  Spain,  and  accorded 
the  Americans  an  unlimited  right  of  fishing  on  the  banks  of  New- 
foundland. , 

During  the  war  Great  Britain  sent  112,584  troops  for  land  ser- 
vice and  over  22,000  seamen  to  America,  and  the  colonists  had 
230,000  continental  soldiers  and  56,000  militia  under  arms. 

By  a  general  order  of  Congress  the  army  was  disbanded  No- 
vember 3,  a  small  force  being  retained  at  West  Point,  N.  Y., 
under  command  of  General  Knox,  until  the  organization  of  a  peace 
establishment. 

The  British  army  evacuated  New  York  city,  November  25; 
General  Knox  moved  his  troops  down  from  West  Point  and  halted 
in  the  Bowery,  and  as  the  British  marched  to  Whitehall  he 
followed  and  took  possession  of  Fort  George,  the  artillery  on  the 


184 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


Battery  saluting  the  United  States  flag,  and  the  citizens  giving- 
Governor  Clinton  and  the  principal  civil  officers  of  the  State  who 
accompanied  General  Knox  an  enthusiastic  reception. 

Washington  summoned  his  officers  to  meet  him  at  his  quarters 
corner  Pearl  and  Broad  Streets,  New  York,  December  4,  and  then' 
amid  copious  tears  and  prolonged  sobs,  he  took  an  affectionate 
farewell  of  each.  The  ceremony  over,  he  proceeded  direct  to 
Annapolis.  Md.,  where  Congress  was  in  session,  and  returned  to  it, 
December  23,  the  commission  it  gave  him  over  eight  years  before. 
He  rendered  an  account  of  his  expenses  as  Commander-in-Chief' 
amounting  to  about  $74480,  but  declined  to  receive  any  compen- 
sation for  his  services,  and  sought  the  retirement  of  his  farm. 

New  York  Chrisiiati  Advocate, 


NATIONAL  HOLIDAYS. 

The  recurrence  of  our  greatest  national  holiday  recalls 
the  fact  that  the  United  States  was  one  of  the  first  nations 
to  create  public  holidays  which  had  direct  reference  to  the 
people's  achievements  in  their  own  behalf.  The  observ- 
ance of  the  Fourth  of  July  dates  from  its  first  anniversary, 
and  has  never  been  interrupted  since  the  establishment  of 
the  republic.  Other  nations  have  followed  our  example, 
and  now  almost  all  civilized  peoples  have  these  national 
holidays,  commemorating  events  in  their  own  history. 

The  French  nation  has  made  July  14,  the  anniversary  of 
the  destruction  of  the  Bastile  by  the  people,  a  public  holi- 
day, which  they  celebrate  with  great  eclat.  Mexico  cele- 
brates May  5  as  the  anniversary  of  a  great  victory  over  the 
invading  French  army,  while  most  of  the  other  American 
republics  observe  the  anniversary  of  similar  events.  The 
Italians  make  a  holiday  of  September  21,  the  date  of  the 
entrance  of  the  Italian  army  into  Rome.  In  Canada,  the 
first  day  of  July,  which  is  the  anniversary  of  the  promulga- 
tion of  the  confederation  of  the  provinces,  is  celebrated, 
and  called  Dominion  Day. 

But  the  new  Republic  of  Brazil  has  instituted  the  most 
extensive  and  remarkable  series  of  national  holidays  ever 
known,  having  no  less  than  nine  memorial  days,  beginning 


INDEPENDENCE  DA  V. 


185 


January  i,  devoted  to  the  commemoration  of  universal 
brotherhood,  and  ending  with  November  15,  when  they 
celebrate  the  glory  of  the  country  of  Brazil  in  general. 

Now  that  the  Fourth  of  July  din  has  so  far  receded  into 
the  distance  that  we  can  listen  to  reason,  is  not  that  part  of 
the  performance  which  puts  dangerous  explosives  into  the 
hands  of  everybody  without  stint,  in  crowded  city  streets, 
about  the  most  foolish  thing  done  in  this  country  ?     The 
list  of  published  casualties  in  Boston  includes  six  persons 
shot,  three  who  each  lost  an  eye,  and  ten  others  who  were 
taken  to  hospitals  with  hands  blown  off,  eyes  filled  with 
powder,  and  other  wounds.     Forty-two   fire  alarms   were 
rung  in  the  city  and  vicinity  during  the  day.     Many  sick 
persons  were  made  worse,  scores  of  thousands  were  robbed 
of  their  night's  sleep,  horses  and  dogs  by  wholesale  were 
tortured  by  fright.     The  killed  and  wounded  and  the  losses 
by  fire,  taking  in  the  whole  country,  made  the  disasters  of 
the  day  as  great  as  would  have  followed  a  good-sized  battle. 
Many  of  the  features  of  Independence  Day  are  harmless, 
enjoyable,  inspiring.     We  would  not  lessen  the  sports,  pro- 
cessions,  excursions,  outdoor  and  indoor  entertainments. 
But  the  burning  of  powder,  the  Chinese  firecrackers,  the 
tin  horns,  and  the  ill  manners  that  turn  the  day  into  a  bar- 
baric carnival  are  as  great  an  enemy  to  patriotism  as  they 

are  a  libel  on  the  good  sense  of  the  people. 

Congregatiofialist. 


THE     NATION'S     BIRTHDAY— PAST,     PRESENT, 

AND  FUTURE. 

The  Fourth  of  July  marks  an  epoch  in  the  world's 
history.  It  marks  the  birth  of  a  free  nation,  with  all  that 
implies— a  nation  in  the  existence  of  which  the  oppressed 
of  all  lands  rejoice,  and  of  which  every  true  American  is 

justly  proud. 

The  return  of  this  day  carries  the  mind  of  the  thought- 
ful student  of  his  country's  history  back  to  the  times  and 


i86 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION: 


to  the  men  of   '76.     Those   were  eventful   times.     Those 
men  were  the  world's  benefactors. 

Tyrants  had  reigned  through  all  the  long,  bloody  past. 
Their  own  interests,  and  lusts,  and  passions  were  gratified 
and  pandered  to,  regardless  of  the  rights  and  sufferings  of 
others.  The  state  or  kingdom  existed  for  them,  not  for 
others.  But  a  new  era  had  dawned.  Providence  had 
guided  Columbus  to  the  discovery  of  a  vast  continent, 
replete  with  inexhaustible  resources— rich  in  climate,' 
timber,  mineral,  soil,  in  all  things  essential  to  the  well- 
being  of  man.  To  this  land,  hardy,  brave.  God-fearing 
men  and  women  had  come  to  secure  and  enjoy  personal 
and  religious  freedom.  Here  they  had  settled,  lived, 
toiled,  and  enjoyed  the  fruits  of  their  own  industry  more 
than  a  hundred   years. 

But  the  tyrant  followed  them  ;  and  in  proportion  as  they 
were  happy  and  prosperous,  in  the  same  proportion  did  he 
become  eager  to  set  his  iron  heel  upon  their  necks  and 
circumscribe  their  liberties.  Gently  at  first,  and  more 
abruptly  later  on,  did  he  seek  to  forge  a  chain  and  bind 
the  brave,  hardy  sons  of  Liberty. 

But  he  reckoned  without  his  host.  He  mistook  the 
temper  of  our  forefathers.  Alert,  jealous  of  their  rights, 
suspicious  of  the  tyrant's  designs,  they  quickly  discerned 
the  import  of  his  sly  advances.  They  resented  his  demands 
and  exclaimed,  **  Taxation  without  representation  is  oppres- 
sion." 

We  know  the  result.  Lexington,  Bunker  Hill,  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  an  eight  years'  war  replete 
with  suffering  and  deeds  of  daring  on  the  part  of  the 
armies  led  by  the  noble  Washington  and  his  compatriots. 
Valley  Forge,  Trenton,  Yorktown,  and  then  peace  and 
liberty  ! 

One  hundred  years  and  many  more  have  sped  by  since  the 
old  man  in  the  belfry  of  Independence  Hall,  on  hearing  the 
little  boy  exclaim,  '*  Ring,  grandpa,  ring  !  Oh,  ring  for 
Liberty  !  "  rung  in  our  first  glorious  Fourth  of  July.     And 


INDEPENDENCE  DA  Y. 


187 


now  -  behold  what  God  hath  wrought !  "  What  a  growth 
in  territory,  in  development  of  natural  resources,  m  popula- 
tion,  in  schools,  asylums,  industries,  and  in  all  that  contnb- 
utes  to  make  life  worth  living.  Sixty-five  millions  of 
people— the  freest,  the  most  prosperous,  the  happiest  the 
most  intelligent,  and  the  most  pious  to  be  found  anywhere 
in  this  world-spread  out  over  the  best  portion  of  the  conti- 
nent discovered  by  Columbus,  is  truly  an  inspiring  theme 
for  contemplation.     Surely  it  is  God  who  has  made  and 

preserved  us  as  a  nation.  .        .  ,   . 

But  what  of  the  future  ?  Is  this  republic,  with  its  provi- 
dential beginnings,  its  wonderful  progress  and  ^ts  noble 
history,  doomed  to  repeat  the  history  of  the  republics  of 
Greece  and  Rome  ?  Not  necessarily.  Foster  the  mstitu- 
tions  that  make  the  masses  intelligent,  sober,  and  virtuous 
through  all  coming  time,  and  you  perpetuate  the  existence 

of  the  republic.  ,        ,    •  c 

Men  change,  but  principles  never.    The  foundations  of 
the   republic  were   wisely,  strongly   laid  by  its  founders 
Thev  founded    the   Government  upon    the    fundamenta 
principles  of  the  Christian  religion.     The  Constitufon  of 
the  United  States  is  but  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  formu- 
lated  into  a  fundamental  modern  law.      1  hroughout  its 
length  is  breathed  the  spirit  of  the  Man  of  Calvary.     Th.s 
is  the  secret  of  the  nation's  growth  and  prosperity.    1  he 
fundamental  principles  of  the  Christian  religion  have  been 
made  to  live,  and  breathe,  and  act  in  a  "  government  of  the 
people,  by  the  people,  for  the  people." 

So  long  as  these  great  principles,  these  old  landmarks  of 
the  fathers,  are  adhered  to,  the  existence  and  prosperity  of 
the  republic  is  assured.  But  depart  from  these,  usher  m  a 
populace  ignorant,  drunken,  licentious,  Sabbath-desecrating 
and  in  due  time  our  Union  will  be  but  a  rope  of  sand,  and 
our  republic,  like  the  republics  of  Greece  and  Rome,  w.l 
fester  and  rot  in  its  own  vices  and  die  of  its  own  moral 
pollution.  "  Righteousness  exalteth  a  nation,  but  sin  is  a 
reproach  to  any  people." 


i88 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


INDEPENDENCE  DAY. 


189 


Let  patriotic  fathers  and  mothers  see  that  their  sons  and 
daughters  are  schooled  in  the  great  truths  of  the  Bible,  and 
let  philanthropists  and  statesmen  see  that  our  Christian 
institutions  are  protected  and  fostered  by  the  enactment 
and  enforcement  of  wholesome  laws  ;  and  then  will  they 
guarantee  the  safety  and  prosperity  of  the  republic. 


THE   DAY   WE   CELEBRATE. 

Harmless  mirth,  innocent  noise  and  uproar,  the  out- 
burst of  youthful  enthusiasm  may  all  be  allowed  on  the  one 
day  devoted  to  such  national  hilarity  as  has  attended  Lide- 
pendence  Day  ever  since  the  immortal  document  was 
signed,  amid  portentous  scenes,  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia 
in  1776.  We  are  not  sure  but  the  old  men  take  as  much 
pleasure  in  the  sports  of  the  hour,  the  exhilaration  of  the 
day,  as  do  the  boys  who  spend  all  their  loose  change,  burn 
all  their  powder,  and  go  home  at  night  to  dream  of  rockets 
and  Roman  candles,  wishing  that  a  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence had  been  signed  every  month  of  that  year  of 
decision  and  fate.  The  difference  between  the  old  and  the 
young  may  lie  in  the  fact  that  at  night  the  former  are  glad 
that  the  day  is  over,  while  the  latter  wish  it  would  never 
end. 

One  hundred  and years  ago  the  Anglo- 
American  people  declared  themselves  independent  of  the 
British  power,  threw  off  the  yoke  of  the  mother  country, 
and  rose  to  a  great,  free,  glorious  nationality.  Assembled 
in  the  city  of  Philadelphia  the  delegates  of  the  colonies 
subscribed  to  that  sublime  Declaration  which  has  been 
a  beacon  light  of  liberty  to  every  king-crushed  nation  on 
the  globe  from  that  day  to  this.  The  old  bell  which  is  now 
mute,  but  eloquent  in  its  age,  rang  out  "  liberty  to  all  the 
inhabitants  of  the  land,"  and  the  Declaration  of  Emancipa- 
tion which  Thomas  Jefferson  wrote,  John  Hancock  signed, 
and  which  John  Adams  by  his  matchless  oratory  supported,' 


passed  into  the  history  of  the  world  as  the  creed  of  the 
oppressed,  the  gospel  of  freedom.  Since  then  the  4th  of 
July  has  been  celebrated  with  great  pomp  and  enthusiasm. 
Though  the  resolution  of  independence  on  which  the 
Declaration  was  based  passed  the  house  of  delegates  on 
the  2d  of  July,  and  though  that  is  really  the  day  which 
should  be  celebrated,  the  Declaration  was  not  signed  until 
the  4th,  and  that  has  become  the  national  Sabbath  of 
liberty,  the  political  birthday  of  a  sovereign  people. 

It  was  expected  that  the  day  would  be  observed  !  John 
Adams,  writing  to  his  wife  after  the  resolution  of  the  2d  of 
July  had  been  adopted,  says  :  "  The  day  is  passed  ;  the  2d 
of  July,  1776,  will  be  the  most  memorable  in  American  his- 
tory. I  am  apt  to  believe  that  it  will  be  celebrated  by  suc- 
ceeding generations  as  the  great  anniversary  festival.  It 
ought  to  be  commemorated  as  the  day  of  deliverance  by 
solemn  acts  of  devotion  to  God  Almighty.  It  ought  to  be 
solemnized  with  pomp  and  parade— with  drums,  games, 
sports,  guns,  bells,  bonfires,  and  illuminations  from  one 
end  of  this  continent  to  the  other,  from  this  time  forward 

forever." 

Mr.  Adams  spoke  with  the  voice  of  a  prophet.  His 
patriotic  soul  looked  down  into  the  future.  His  enthusiastic 
foreshadowing  has  been  realized  ;  and  as  often  as  the  day 
has  come  it  has  been  ushered  in  with  ringing  bells  and 
sounding  cannon  ;  it  has  been  hung  with  waving  flags  and 
time-worn  banners,  and  up  to  God  has  gone  from  the 
devout  heart  the  thanksgiving  and  homage  which  God 
demands.     It  has  been  the  nation's  Sabbath  of  freedom. 

The  hand  that  wrote  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
has  long  ago  palsied  in  death.  For  more  than  sixty  years 
Charles  Carroll,  the  last  member  of  that  immortal  company 
who  appended  their  names  to  that  famous  document,  has 
been  slumbering  in  his  grave,  but  the  Declaration  is  yet  a 
living  fact,  and  to-day  the  instrument  has  as  much  force 
and  meaning  as  it  had  one  hundred  and years 


ago. 


190 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION. 


INDEPENDENCE  DAY. 


191 


July  4,  1893,  found  us  in  new  surroundings  and  facing 
new  problems  of  national  life.  The  four  hundredth  year 
of  the  Columbian  discovery  was  celebrated  in  a  way 
that  would  have  bewildered  and  astonished  John  Adams 
and  Thomas  Jefferson,  and  would  fairly  have  taken  the 
breath  out  of  Columbus  and  the  whole  court  of  Castile. 
Our  harbors  were  filled  with  huge  war  ships  of  many 
nations,  come  not  to  bombard  our  cities  and  pour  destruc- 
tion upon  our  commerce,  but  to  bring  friendly  congratula- 
tions. The  nobility  of  Spain,  the  titled  men  of  Europe, 
came  to  us,  not  for  conquest,  but  in  kindly  joy  at  our 
prosperity,  to  see  our  great  land  and  to  bear  back  senti- 
ments that  will  make  future  wars  with  the  powers  of  the 
Old  World  impossible.  Columbus,  if  he  could  have  landed 
in  New  York  and  traveled  on  to  Chicago  to  see  the  **  White 
City,"  representing  the  industries  of  all  nations,  would  have 
felt  that  his  discovery  was  worth  more  to  the  world  than  he 
ever  dreamed.  He  would  have  seen  his  own  Spain  but  a 
speck,  a  dot,  an  atom,  compared  with  the  land  he  discovered, 
then  inhabited  by  rude  tribes,  nomadic  in  their  habits,  and 
fierce  with  their  intercourse  with  each  other,  now  filled  with 
great  cities  stretching  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  If 
there  was  a  devout  spot  in  his  nature,  a  religious  fiber  in 
his  being,  he  would  have  recognized  the  divine  hand  that 
led  him. 

Christian  Enquirer. 

GREAT  IDEAS  THAT  SHOULD  BE  EMPHASIZED 
ON  INDEPENDENCE  DAY. 

To  Americans  this  day  means  more  than  any  other 
national  holiday.  Other  days  are  important,  but  this  one 
marks  the  birth  of  the  republic.  Consequently,  of  all 
others,  the  recurrence  of  this  day  most  touches  our  national 
pride  and  arouses  the  patriotic  ardor  of  all  true  Americans. 

Many  more  than  one  hundred  years  have  rolled  by  since 
the  immortal  instrument  was  signed  in  Independence  Hall, 


which  declared  that  '*  these  colonies  are  and  of  right  ought 
to  be  free  and  independent  states."  Mighty  changes  have 
been  wrought  out  in  that  time.  Progress  undreamed  of  then 
has  been  made.  From  3,000,000  the  population  has  grown 
to  65,000,000  ;  from  thirteen  the  States  have  been  increased 
to  forty-four  !  This  astonishing  growth  is,  under  God,  due 
to  the  great  humanitarian  ideas  enunciated  on  that  glorious 
day,  for  the  maintenance  of  which  the  signers  of  that 
Heaven-born  instrument  mutually  pledged  their  lives,  their 
fortunes,  and  their  sacred  honor.  Those  great  ideas — that 
wonderful  recognition  of  man's  inalienable  right  to  life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  and  the  declaration 
that  all  governments  derive  their  just  powers  from  the  con- 
sent of  the  governed  having  been  formally  proclaimed  and 
maintained  by  the  fathers  of  '76,  and  at  last  recognized  by 
the  nations  of  the  earth,  this  country  became  an  asylum  for 
the  oppressed  of  all  lands,  as  well  as  the  hope  of  all  who 
by  their  own  industry  sought  to  build  up  and  maintain  a 
happy  home. 

To-day  it  is  ours  to  enjoy  and  celebrate  this  glorious 
day.  As  the  years  have  swept  by  the  method  of  celebrating 
has  undergone  some  changes.  Forty  years  ago  this  day 
the  writer  attended  his  first  Fourth  of  July  celebration.  It 
was  a  glorious  day.  To  witness  and  participate  in  the 
patriotic  event,  he  walked  twelve  miles,  arriving  on  the 
grounds  at  lo  a.  m.  There  was  a  drum  corps,  three  Sab- 
bath schools  in  line,  each  headed  by  a  banner,  and  the  Stars 
and  Stripes  carried  in  triumph  at  the  head  of  the  proces- 
sion. We  marched  and  countermarched,  and  then,  in  a 
beautiful  grove,  listened  to  the  reading  of  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  the  singing  of  *' My  Country,  'tis  of 
Thee  "  and  "  The  Star  Spangled  Banner,"  and  to  a  rousing 
patriotic  address,  sufficiently  eloquent  to  cause  the  Amer- 
ican eagle  to  scream  and  the  British  lion  to  skulk  away  to 
his  den,  after  which  dinner  was  spread — cakes,  pies,  bread, 
butter,  and  lemonade  in  abundance  ;  and  oh,  my  !  how  the 
hardy  mountaineers,  young  and  old,  did  eat.     There  was 


192 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


no  roar  of  cannon,  no  firing  of  anvils,  but  hearts  never  felt 
a  truer  patriotic  throb  than  did  the  hearts  of  those  who 
participated  in  that  the  first  Fourth  of  July  celebration  we 
ever  witnessed. 

To-day  the  day  is  observed  somewhat  differently,  and 
there  is  danger  that  with  the  introduction  of  more  formality, 
more  style,  more  display  of  wealth,  and  more  aristocratic 
caste  the  great  ideas  that  should  be  emphasized  on  this  anni- 
versity  will  be  lost  sight  of.     Among  these  are : 

First,  and  forever,  the  flag  and  what  it  symbolizes.  The 
true  American  idea  should  be  made  prominent  on  this  day, 
and  everything  that  is  foreign  and  anti-American  frowned 
down.  This  is  "  a  government  of  the  people,  by  the  peo- 
ple, for  the  people."  Let  this  idea  be  emphasized  on  the 
Fourth  of  July.  It  is  a  government  in  which  the  will  of 
the  majority  is  the  supreme  authority  to  which  all  must 
bow,  and  in  its  domain  anarchism,  nihilism,  and  communism, 
must  never  gain  a  foothold. 

Second.  Emphasize  the  fact  that  while  we  welcome  the 
industrious,  law-abiding  foreigner,  we  have  no  welcome  for 
the  pauper,  the  lawless,  the  vicious  of  foreign  climes. 
America  only  extends  a  welcome  to  those  foreigners  who 
truly  and  intelligently  Americanize,  and  who  delight  in  and 
are  loyal  to  liberty  regulated  by  law. 

Third.  Emphasize  the  high  duty  of  protecting  the  hon- 
est laborer  against  the  oppressions  of  capital  combined  for 
purposes  of  unlawful  extortion.  A  social  tyranny  is  grow- 
ing up  in  this  country  in  the  form  of  trusts,  rings,  and 
monopolies  which  would  grind  the  laborer  down  to  the 
condition  of  a  chattel.  Against  this  heartless  tyranny 
the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence must  be  hurled  through  the  agency  of  an  intelligent 
ballot.  Orators  and  statesmen  who  are  true  to  liberty  will 
vie  with  each  other  in  emphasizing  the  rights  of  labor,  and 
in  demanding  for  the  laborer  a  just  proportion  of  the 
products  of  his  toil.  The  aristocracy  and  the  plutoc- 
racy of  wealth   must  be    dethroned,  and    kept    off    the 


mDEPENDENCE  DAV. 


193 


throne,  or  liberty  in  this  country  will  soon  be  a  thing  of 
the  past. 

Fourth.    Our  Fourth  of  July  celebrations  must  emphasize 
the  great  necessity  for  extending  the  ballot   to   citizens 
regardless  of  sex,  for  a  free  ballot  and  an  honest  count, 
the  suffrage  test  being  the  voter's  ability  to  read  and  write 
the  English  language.     This  is  vital.     In  the  North   the 
hope  of  corrupt  demagogues  and  the  dismay  of  patriots  is 
the  ignorant  foreign  vote,  and  in  the  South  the  hope  of  the 
oppressor  and  outrager  of  the  black  man,  and  the  dismay 
of  the  friends  of  righteousness  in  government,  is  that  bar- 
barous tyranny  that  permits  only  white  men  to  vote   and 
have  their  votes  honestly  counted.     Let  there  be  guaran- 
teed to  every  citizen  of  the  nation,  twenty-one  years  of  age 
or  more,  and  who  can  read  and  write,   the  privilege  of 
secretly  depositing   his   or   her   ballot,   and   having   their 
votes  honestly  counted  and  recorded,  and  soon  the  licensed 
rum  traffic  will  be  wiped  out,  monopolies  will  be  over- 
thrown, good  laws  will  be  enacted  and  enforced,  the  laborer 
will  be  protected  in  his  rights,  and  the  governments  of  the 
nation,  the  states,  and  the  municipalities  will  be  adminis- 
tered with  fidelity,  and  not  in  the  interests  of  ward  bum- 
mers and  vote  buyers. 

Fifth.  Emphasize  the  importance  of  a  rededication  to 
the  great  work  of  transmitting  to  the  generations  that  are 
to  succeed  us  the  inestimable  heritage  that  our  fathers  have 
handed  down  to  us.  These  free  institutions  are  the  glory 
of  America  and  the  dismay  of  tyrants.  Let  them  be  pre- 
served inviolate.  And  to  this  end  let  the  people  emphasize 
the  importance  of  there  ever  being  kept  up  a  distinct 
separation  between  Church  and  State.  Let  the  evil  of 
giving  State  funds  to  sectarian  schools  and  Church  institu- 
tions be  set  forth  in  all  its  crime-breeding  ugliness  until,  in 
response  to  the  demands  of  the  masses,  there  is  attached  to 
the  Federal  Constitution  an  amendment  completely  pro- 
hibiting such  a  misapplication  of  funds  by  either  the  nation 
or  by  any  State. 


t94 


THOUGHTS  JTOk    THE   OCCASIOAT. 


INDEPENDENCE  DAY. 


195 


Let  the  people  be  reminded  that  ''eternal  vigilance  is  the 
price  of  liberty,"  and  that  only  an  intelligent,  progressive, 
vigilant  people  can  long  continue  to  be  free. 

Religions  Telescope. 

KEEPING  ALIVE    OUR  NATIONAL  PRINCIPLES. 

So  long  as  human  nature  continues  to  be  what  it  is,  so 
long  will  hero  worship,  that  is,  the  examples  of  great  men 
be  a  more  powerful  influence  than  abstract  truth.  There- 
fore the  keepers  of  the  public  morals  do  wisely  when  they 
make  use  of  every  opportunity  which  occurs  to  arouse  in 
the  public  mind  an  enthusiasm  for  the  men  whose  lives 
embodied  the  great  principles  on  which  our  national  life 
is  built.  Such  opportunities,  fortunately,  are  scattered 
throughout  the  year,  by  the  recurrence  of  our  national 
holidays. 

Not  that  our  people  are  much  given  to  philosophizing  on 
these  occasions.  A  holiday  is,  for  the  most  part,  held  to  be 
a  time  for  putting  away  thought,  not  for  courting  it,  and 
there  are  special  reasons  why  American  holidays  do  not 
mean  much  to  the  mass  of  the  American  people,  especially 
in  large  communities,  foreign  born  or  foreign  bred  as  the 
majority  of  them  may  be.  Time  was  when  American  chil- 
dren drew  in  veneration  for  the  name  of  Washington  with 
their  mother's  milk,  and  the  names  Franklin  and  Hamilton, 
and  Jefferson,  and  Adams,  were  as  familiar  and  as  revered 
as  those  of  the  minister  or  of  the  schoolmaster  ;  the  great 
principles  which  these  names  illustrate,  were  part  of  the 
fiber  of  every  American  heart.  But  the  case  is  altered  now. 
Not  all  American  citizens  were  born  American  children  ; 
great  numbers  of  them  have  no  knowledge  of  American 
history,  nor  any  interest  in  the  great  names  in  which  Amer- 
ican  principles  are  embodied.  Another  people  has  arisen 
who  know  not  Joseph,  and  who  have  no  traditions  of  the 
past  to  hold  them  true  to  the  ideal  of  American  national 
life.     All  the  great  teachings  of  our  history  are  to  them 


simply  non-existent,  and  hence,  when  they  become  natural- 
ized, they  have  little  idea  what  it  is  to  be  citizens  ;  and 
their  children,  as  they  grow  up,  are  as  explorers  in  an 
unknown  country,  without  map  or  guide. 

These  are  reasons  why  the  most  should  be  made  of  our 
national  festivals  in  the  direct  line  of  keeping  alive  our 
national  principles,  and  it  is  a  happy  circumstance  that  our 
public  schools  have  become  awake  to  the  fact,  and  are  mak- 
ing the  exercises  of  the  day  before  each  national  holiday 
point  especially  to  that  day.     It  is  a  happy  circumstance, 
too,  that  many  of  our  country  towns  are  going  back  to  the 
**  good  old  way  "  of  celebrating  the  "  Glorious  Fourth  "  : 
the  parade  and  the  reading  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence and  the  oration  by  some  genius,  local  or  imported. 
Even    the   spread-eagleism  which  generally  characterizes 
such  effusions  is  not  without  its  value  in  rekindling  the  fire 
of  patriotism,  which  is  apt  to  be  pretty  deeply  buried  under 
the  ashes  of  commonplace  self-seeking. 

The  trouble  with  Fourth  of  July  orations,  as  with  other 
public  speeches,  is  that  they  are  too  apt  to  deal  in  "  glit- 
tering generalities,"  and  have  no  definite   point  that  can 
leave  a  lasting  impression.     It  is  well  enough  to  expound 
and  glorify  great  principles,  but  it  is  far  better  to  exhibit 
them  as  manifested  in  a  life.     A  Fourth  of  July  oration 
which  tells  something  of  the  men  who  signed  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  who  they  were  and  what  they  did 
for  their  country,   which   singles   out   one  or  another  of 
them  for  especial  description,  will  produce  an  effect  which 
will  remain  long  after  all  the  grandiloquence  of  the  oration 
has   passed   into  nothingness.     "Until   time   shall   be  no 
more,"  Lord  Brougham  has  said,"  will  a  test  of  the  prog- 
ress which  our  race  has  made  be  derived  from  the  venera- 
tion paid  to  the  name  of  Washington."     Reverence  is  one 
of  the  noblest  elements  of  human  character  ;  to  the  best 
among  us,  to  those  who  are  the  true  strength  of  our  nation 
to-day,  it  is  much  that  such  men  as  Washington  and  Lm- 
coin  and  Grant  have  lived  and  died,  and  the  best  achieve- 


196 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


ment  of  an  orator  is  to  build  up  in  the  minds  of  his  hearers 
that  reverence  for  a  noble  name  which  impels  to  the  effort 
to  live  a  life  which,  humble  though  it  may  be,  shall  contain 
some  element  of  nobility. 

In  this  work  of  building  up  the  character  by  the  examples 
of  noble  lives,  the  pulpit  should  have  a  prominent  place, 
and  It  IS  a  fortunate  thing  when,  as  in  the  present  yea/ 
many  of  the  great  holidays  are  immediately  preceded  by 
Sunday,  and  the  principles  or  the  men  they  commemorate 
make  the  subject  of  many  of  the  sermons  of   that  day 
Where  the  subject  is  the  men  rather  than  the  principles,  or 
the  men  as  illustrating  the  principles,  so  much  the  better 
Nearly  a  century  and   a  half  ago,  in   1755,  shortly  after 
Braddock  s  defeat,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Davies,  -  The  most 
brilliant  pulpit  orator  produced  in  the  colonial  time  south 
of  New  England,"  preached  a  sermon  in  which  he  said    ♦' I 
may  point  out  to  the   public  that  heroic  youth.  Colonel 
Washington,    whom    I   cannot   but    hope   Providence   has 
hitherto  preserved  in  so  signal  a  manner  for  some  impor- 
tant  service  to  his  country."     Who  shall  say  that  this  ser- 
mon  counted  for  nothing  in  the  character  of  the  men  who 
eleven  years  later  signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence  ? 
AVho  can  doubt  that  the  young  men,  of  whatever  station, 
who  thus  for  the  first  time  heard  of  the  gallant  doings  of 
"that  heroic  youth,"  did  feel  their  blood  stirred  and  their 
souls  grow  strong  ;  and  were  thus,  in  some  degree,  made 
more  fit  for  the  long  and  bitter  ordeal   that    lay   before 
them  ?     The  Psalm  of  Life  has  become  hackneyed,  but  it 
IS  just  as  true  now  as  when  Longfellow  wrote,  that  we  are 
mspired  by  the  lives  of  great  men  to  some  effort  to  '*  make 
our  lives  sublime." 

New  York  Evangelist. 


INDEPENDENCE  DAY. 


197 


A  COSTLY  HERITAGE. 

KoT  without  cost  obtained  our  forefathers  this  heritage 
of  liberty  though  we  are  freeborn.     We  reap  the  harvest  of 
their  sowing,  and  while  they  sowed  with  toil  and  self-denial, 
we   reap   in  luxuriance   and  joy.     While  rejoicing   in  our 
good   fortune   it   behooves  us   to   see  to  it  that  we  band 
down   our    heritage    to    posterity  unshorn  of    any  of   its 
privileges  and  with  its  glory  untarnished.     There  are  ele- 
ments which  make  for  the  greatness  of  a  nation  and  others 
that  equally  work  for  its  destruction.     True  love  of  coun- 
try  will  seek  to    discriminate    between    these    and    to  be 
found  ever  on  the  side  of  the  right.     That  all  are  patriotic 
cannot  be  admitted.     There  are  not  a  few  persons  in  the 
community  who    enjoy   the   advantages    afforded   by   the 
greatest  republic  the  world    ever  witnessed,  selfishly  and 
without  thought  of  the  debt  they  owe  to  the  great  father- 
land.    They  eat  the  fruits  of  the  trees  which  others  planted, 
but  have  little  thought  of  care  for  the  trees  which,  properly 
protected,  would   nourish  and  comfort  succeeding  genera- 
tions. 

It  is  very  trite  to  say  that  public  office  is  a  public  trust, 
and  to  apply  the  principle  to  the  President,  the  Governor, 
the  Senator,  the  Congressman,  or  the  Borough  Councilman. 
It  is  our  boast  that  we  are  all  kings,  and  kingship  is  not 
without  responsibility.  Private  citizenship  is  a  public 
trust.  This  is  the  doctrine  that  needs  to  be  inculcated. 
To  be  an  American  citizen  is  a  privilege  of  priceless  value, 
but  it  brings  with  it  a  responsibility  that  can  only  be  lived 
up  to  by  those  who  are  truly  patriotic  in  spirit.  We  may 
shout  ourselves  hoarse  singing  of  America  the  free  and 
resounding  the  praises  of  Revolutionary  heroes  ;  we  may 
make  our  eyes  weary  with  the  sight  of  our  fiery  display,  and 
our  ears  deaf  with  the  noise  of  detonating  powder,  and  yet 
be  without  a  spark  of  patriotism.  We  shall  best  honor 
these  men  and  days  of  old  by  signing  our  own  declaration 
of  independence  from  all  those  elements  of  selfishness  and 


198 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


^DEPENDENCE  DAY. 


199 


sordidness  that  lead  to  indifference  as  to  the  country's 
welfare  and  to  an  all-absorbing  desire  for  mere  personal 
ease  or  acquisition. 

The  superstructure  of  our  independence  and  prosperity 
rests  upon  seven  pillars  :  purity  in  our  legislative  cham- 
bers, inflexibility  in  our  courts  of  law  and  justice,  an 
elevated  tone  in  our  public  press,  the  conservation  of  our 
American  Sunday,  the  regulation  of  the  interests  existing 
between  capital  and  labor,  a  sense  of  stewardship  on  the 
part  of  the  rich,  and  a  recognition  on  the  part  of  all  men 
of  the  public  claim  upon  them,  not  merely  when  some 
office  is  to  be  filled,  but  in  the  exercise  of  the  rights  and 
responsibilities  of  an  American  citizen.  This  is  a  high 
ideal,  but  nothing  short  of  it  will  insure  our  future  great- 
ness and  prosperity.  Toward  the  maintenance  of  these 
principles  all  have  something  to  do.  As  we  play  our  part 
nobly  or  otherwise  will  the  trend  of  our  future  history  be 
shaped.  The  exaltation  or  degradation  of  the  nation 
depends  upon  the  exalted  or  degraded  lives  of  the  people. 
Those  lives  are  degraded  in  which  self  is  the  center  and 
circumference  ;  those  are  exalted  in  which  the  public  weal 
is  the  broader  aim  and  the  nobler  motive  and  inspiration. 

Princeton  Press. 


PROPER  AND  IMPROPER  MODES  OF  CELE- 

PRATING  THE  DAY. 

If  all  this  wild  demonstration  of  joy,  or  whatever  else 
the  spasm  or  emotion  may  be,  over  the  return  of  the  anni- 
versary of  American  freedom  could  be  confined  to  season- 
able  hours,  though  senseless  to  the  last  degree,  it  would 
still  be  less  exposed  to  criticism  or  complaint  on  public 
grounds.  In  their  best  estate,  these  demonstrations  are  the 
development  of  the  hoodlum  element  inherent  in  humanity. 
They  are  not,  in  any  view,  as  ordinarily  carried  on,  the 
expression  of  patriotic  ardor.     Rather,  the  contrary.     In  the 


waking  hours  of  the  average  of  humanity,  these  demonstra- 
tions might  be  good-naturedly  tolerated  ;    but  when  they 
are  pushed  away  into  the  night,  and  the  revelry  deepens  as 
the  hours  of  sleep  approach,  and  swells  into  its  fullest 
volume  at  about  the  midnight  hour— waning  only  with  the 
dawn— and  the  streets  are  patroled  by  wandering  bands 
of  revelers  that  every  part  of  the  town  may  be  put  on  the 
rack,  then  it  is  high  time  for  municipal  interference  and 
regulation.     The  citizen's  right  to  sleep  and  rest  is  inalien- 
able, and  the  right  of  the  sick  and  the  aged  to  a  night  of 
life  renewing  repose  is  beyond  cavil.     The  heedless  and 
reckless  invasion  of  this  latter  right  invests  these  midnight 
carousals  with  a  strong  element  of  brutality,  and,  on  this 
score  alone,  the  firm  hand  of  municipal  straint  is  impera- 
tively demanded.     Life,  or  shortened  years  of  existence,  is 
often  the  price  of  these  unseasonable  and  irrational  cele- 
brations, or  alleged  celebrations,  of  a  great  national  anni- 
versary.     Lawful  control  of  the  celebration  should  keep 
pace  with  the  development  of  the  infernal  enginery  of  cele- 
bration.    The  nights,  at  least,  should  be  held  sacred  to  rest 
and  to  the  welfare  of  the  sick  and  feeble.     These  we  have 
always  with  us.     The  man,  woman,  or  child  who  hangs  out 
an  American  flag  or  a  piece  of  tri-color  as  a  mark  of  appre- 
ciation  of  July  the  Fourth  does  a  hundred  times  more  than 
the  noisiest  citizen  who  explodes  powder  from  sundown  on 
the  3d  to  the  morning  of  the  5th  of  July. 

We  deplore  the  decadence  of  the  old-fashioned  celebra- 
tion of  the  Fourth,  with  its  reading  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  patriotic  music,  and  stirring  addresses, 
instinct  with  the  true  spirit  of  the  day,  American— as  they 
should  be— in  every  syllable,  but  having  a  new  trend  in 
the  direction  of  sound,  sensible  consideration  of  the  quality 
of  good  citizenship,  its  practical  duties  and  their  faithful 
performance.  Every  community  has  a  large  number  of 
people— and  they  are  not  all  young  people— who  need  the 
teachings  of  a  celebration  of  this  character  but  who  seem 
never  to  desire  the  instruction.     For  them  Vanity  Fair  has 


200 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION. 


INDEPENDENCE  DAY, 


201 


stronger  attractions  than  the  patriotic  observances  that 
rose  on  the  rapt  vision  of  Adams.  It  is  wise  to  reflect  on 
these  things  at  this  time,  and  reflection  may  ripen  into  fruit- 
ful action  before  the  dawning  of  another  Independence  Day. 

Vermont  Watchman. 


TRUE   PATRIOTISM. 

H.   W.   BOLTON,   D.   D.,  CHICAGO. 

In  a  republic  like  this,  where  every  man  is  a  prince,  we 
have  no  right  to  leave  the  institutions  committed  to  us  in 
the  hands  of  the  few,  simply  because  we  have  no  taste 
for  politics.  **  Eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of  liberty." 
To-day  the  nation  calls  for  men  who  love  our  institutions. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  true  patriot  to  become  intelligent  in 
reference  to  the  demands  of  the  hour  in  which  he  lives  and 
the  evils  that  endanger  the  institutions  of  his  home.  There 
are  many  evils  and  interests  which  threaten  our  beloved 
land,  and  I  see  vastly  more  danger  from  our  wealth  than 
from  our  poverty.  Mr.  Webster  once  said,  after  traveling 
through  the  vast  territory  of  the  West :  "  I  see  before  us 
abundance,  luxury,  decay,  and  desolation."  It  takes  no 
great  study  of  history  to  see  that  abundance  leads  to  luxury 
and  extravagance,  and  that  extravagance  begets  reckless- 
ness, idleness,  and  vice.  It  was  so  with  Greece  and  Rome. 
Our  wealth  is  becoming  so  great  as  to  attract  the  attention 
of  the  whole  world,  and  men  who  love  money  are  hastening 
to  our  shores  where  the  possibility  of  wealth  exists. 

As  patriotic  sons  of  America  it  becometh  us  to  remember 
with  reverence  the  fathers  and  the  sacrifices  they  made  in 
the  establishment  of  the  institutions  that  have  made  this 
country  what  it  now  is,  and  to  kindle  camp  fires  in  every 
city  and  village,  on  every  slope,  along  every  river,  until 
praise  goes  up  to  God  from  all  hearts,  and  the  thousands 
now  within  our  fold  become  millions.  Inspired  with  true 
devotion  to  God  and  love  for  our  country,  let  us  go  forward 


to  make  war  on  all  law-breaking  and  law-evading  organiza- 
tions, with  the  feeling  that  though  our  work  be  difficult 
and  well-nigh  impossible  in  our  own  strength,  yet  in  the 
grace  which  God  giveth  we  may  look  for  success  in  follow- 
ing our  glorious  motto  :  ''  God  and  our  country." 

We  are  told  that  many  years  ago,  after  a  hard  fought^ 
battle,  wherein  the  valor  and  heroism  of  the  soldiers  were  ;\ 
made 'apparent,  the  victorious  commander  presented  his  > 
soldiers  with  a  medal  bearing  the  name  of  the  battle  and 
the  simple  words,  '*  I  was  there."  The  soldiers  received 
and  prized  these  medals  far  more  than  though  they  had 
been  of  the  finest  gold  and  studded  with  priceless  jewels. 
So,  my  countrymen,  we  are  in  the  midst  of  the  greatest 
battle  of  the  ages,  not  of  swords,  but  of  ideas  and  principles. 
Shall  this  Republic  be  Christian  or  infidel?  Shall  this 
people  be  a  temperate  and  chaste  people,  or  shall  they  be- 
come  drunken  and  licentious  ?  Shall  the  flag  wave  o'er  the 
triumphant  millions  in  the  years  to  come  as  the  emblem  of 
union  and  the  cross  of  Calvary  ?  With  confidence  in  Him 
who  said,  "  I  will  take  you  to  me  for  a  people,  and  I  will 
be  to  you  a  God,  and  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord, 
your  God." 

We  gird  us  for  the  coming  fight, 

And  strong  in  Him  whose  cause  is  ours, 

In  conflict  with  unholy  powers, 

We  grasp  the  weapons  He  hath  given, 

The  light,  the  truth,  the  love  of  Heaven. 


THE  GRAND  MISSION  OF  AMERICA. 

LEONARD    BACON,    D.    D.,    NEW    HAVEN,    CONN. 

This  Republic  was  ordained  of  God,  who  has  provided  the 
conditions  of  the  organization  of  the  race  into  nations  by  the 
configuration  of  land  and  the  interspaces  of  the  sea.  By 
these  national  organizations  the  culture  and  development 
of  the  race  are  secured.     We  believe  that  our  nation  is  a 


202 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


creation  of  God— that  he  ordained  it  for  an  object,  and  we 
believe   that   we   have   some  comprehension  of  what  that 
object  is.     He   gave  us  the  best  results  of  the  travail  of 
ages  past  for  an  outfit,  separating  us  from  the  circumstances 
that  in  the  existing  nations  encumbered  these  results,  and 
sent   us   forth    to    do  his   will.     We  built  on  foundations 
already  prepared  a  new  building.     Other  men  had  labored 
and  we  entered  upon  their  labors.     God  endowed  and  set 
us  for  a  sign  to  testify  the  worth  of  men  and   the   hope 
th#re  is  for  man.     It  is  not  our  national  prosperity,  great  as 
it  is,  that  is  the  appropriate  theme  of  our  most  joyful  con- 
gratulations,  but  it  is  our  success  in   demonstrating  that 
men  are  equal  as  God's  children,  which  affords  a  prophecy 
of  better  things  for  the  race.    **  The  roll  of  the  New  England 
drums  at  Cambridge  announced  the  presence  there  oi  the 
Virginian,  George  Washington  ;"  he  knew  not,  nor  did  Put- 
nam know,  nor   Prescott,  nor  Stark,  nor  the  farmers  who 
had  hastened  to  the  siege  of  Boston,  that  the  war  in  which 
he  then  assumed  the  chief  command  was,  what  we  now  call 
it,  the  war  of  independence.     With  all  sincerity  the  Con- 
gress, four  days  later,   while   solemnly  declaring  ''before 
God  and  the   world,"  **  The  arms  we  have  been  compelled 
by  our  enemies  to  assume,  we  will,  in  defiance  of  every 
hazard,  with  unbating  firmness  and   perseverance,  employ 
for  the  preservation  of  our  liberties,  being  with  one  mind 
resolved  to  die  freemen  rather  than  to  live  slaves  "—could 
also  say,  at  the  same  time,  to  their  '*  friends  and  fellow  sub- 
jects in  every  part  of  the  empire,"  ''  We  assure  them  that 
we  mean  not  to  dissolve  that  union  which  has  so  long  and 
so  happily  subsisted  between  us,  and   which  we  sincerely 
wish  to  be  restored."     The  declaration  on  the  6th  of  July, 
1775,  was  a  declaration  of  war,  but  not  of  independence. 

Yet,  from  the  beginning  of  the  war,  there  was  in  reality 
only  one  issue— though  a  whole  year  must  pass  before  that 
issue  could  be  clearly  apprehended  by  the  nation  and  pro- 
claimed to  the  world. 


INDEPENDENCE  DAY.  203 

THE  MATCHLESS  STORY  OF  AMERICA. 

JOHN   O'BRYNE,  WILMINGTON,  DEL. 

In  all  the  annaled  past  the  story  is  matchless.  Go  back 
to  the  frontier  line  of  fact  and  fable,  begin  at  the  misty 
border  which  marks  the  boundary  of  exact  knowledge,  and 
cull  out  the  most  extraordinary  stories  of  national  progress ; 
parallel  them  with  our  tale  of  a  century  ;  and  how  dry  and 
insipid  are  they,  how  deficient  in  dramatic  force,  how  slow 
and  limping  in  gait,  how  denuded  of  the  element  of  human 
happiness,  when  compared  with  the  marvelous  and  bene- 
ficent  growth  of  our  Republic  ? 

The  glamour  of  history  is  thrown  around  a  Cyrus,  a 
Leonidas,  a  Miltiades,  an  Alexander,  a  Charlemagne,  or  a 
Napoleon,  and  the  growing  mind  of  the  student  drmks  m 
the  glory  of  their  careers  as  they  rise  up  in  demigod  pro- 
portions  to  the  imagination.  Their  glories  are  written  m 
the  blood,  sweat,  and  woe  of  the  conquered.  The  wail  of 
the  captive  is  heard  as  the  cadenced  answer  to  the  shout 
of  triumph.  Herein  our  history  differs  from  that  of  others. 
Our  growth  is  wreathed  and  entwined  with  men's  well- 
being  and  woman's  exaltation.  It  is  a  poem  of  happiness 
conferred,  not  of  suffering  endured.  This  alone  makes 
our  career  a  blessed  one  among  all  the  people. 

Upon  the  border  land  of  the  Atlantic,  bounded  by  the 
coast  range,  or  the  Alleghany  and  Appalachian  mountains, 
three  millions  of  chosen  people  dwelt  a  hundred  years  ago. 
They  were  a  chosen  people,  culled  from  the  best  blood  of 
the  Norman,  Saxon,  and  Celt,  men  whose  consciences  were 
their  only  monitors,  whose  ingrained  sense  of  equality  was 
crystallized  to  the  answer  of  the  New  England  leader  that 
*'  he  knew  no  Lord  but  the  Lord  Jehovah." 

In  this  fringe  of  our  continent,  so  mighty  were  these 
Puritan  compacts  that  they  gave  to  the  world  a  Republic 
already  oversnadowing  in  freedom  and  prosperity  all  the 
political  creations  of  man. 


204 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


THE    FREEDOM    OF    AMERICA    THE    RESULT 

OF   AN  OPEN   BIBLE. 

COURTLAND    PARKER,    NEWARK,    N.    J. 

The   impetus  of   English   greatness   was  given   by  the 
generation  that  settled   America.     It  was  pushed  onward 
by  the  immediately  succeeding  generations,  following  for 
the  most  part  the  same  course  of  thought  and   practice, 
and  from   which,  from   time   to   time,  successive  colonies 
came.     The  England  of  to-day  is  the  England   first  fairly 
developed  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  and  James,  and  which 
has  since  only  been  modified,  never  fully  changed.     The 
America  of  to-day,  departing,  I  fear,  too  carelessly  from 
the  principles  of  its  originators,  is  yet  great  and   worthy 
just   in  proportion  as  it   adheres   to  them.     To  state  the 
view  I  wish  to  maintain  in  short  compass,  it  is  this  :  the 
character  and  greatness  of  England  and  America,  of  Eng- 
lishmen and  Americans,  are  the  result  of  the  principles  of 
tolerant  Christianity,  that  is  to  say,  of  the  open  Bible  and 
the  inculcation  of  its  precepts  and  doctrines.     The  free- 
dom of   which  we  rightly  boast  is  better   than  any  other 
freedom,  because  it  is  that  which  springs  from  the  open 
Bible,  and  is  reverential  and  dutiful  at  the  same  time  that 
it  asserts  the  rights  of  man.     The  progress  over  which  we 
celebrate  this  year  of  jubilee  is  due,  would  we  but  see  it, 
to  the  action  of   those   elements  of   character,  which  the 
open  Bible,  revered  and   followed  as  the  fathers  revered 
and   followed  it,  originates   and  strengthens.     And  if    we 
would  maintain  that  progress,  if  we  would  have  the  nation 
live  more  centuries,  yea!  if  we  would  have  the  next  find 
us  a  strong,  united,  and  happy  people,  we  must  retain  the 
open  Bible  as  a  legal  institution,  insisting  upon  its  use  in 
all   education  regulated   by  law,  and  furthering  it   by  all 
means  consistent  with  law.     This  is  the  grand  subject  which 
I  venture  this  day  to  suggest.     A  subject  which  in  fact  one 
can  do  little  more  than  suggest,  but  which  is  super-eminently 
worthy  of  our  careful  thought  on  these  anniversary  occasions. 


INDEPENDENCE  DA  V. 


205 


OUR  AMERICAN    AGE. 

HON.   ROBERT   C.   WINTHROP,   BOSTON,   MASS. 

It  may  well  be  doubted  whether  the  dispassionate  his- 
torian of  after  years  will  find  that  the  influences  of  any 
other  nation  have  been  of  farther  reach  and  wider  range  or 
of  more  efficiency  for  the  welfare  of  the  world  than  those  of 
our  great  Republic,  since  it  had  a  name  and  a  place  on  the 
earth. 

Other  ages  have  had  their  designations,  local  or  personal 
or  mythical — historic  or  prehistoric — ages  of  stone  or  iron, 
of  silver  or  gold  ;  ages  of  kings  or  queens,  of  reformers  or 
of  conquerors.  That  marvelous  compound  of  almost  every- 
thing wise  or  foolish,  noble  or  base,  witty  or  ridiculous, 
sublime  or  profane,  Voltaire,  maintained  that,  in  his  day,  no 
man  of  reflection  or  of  taste  could  count  more  than  four 
authenthic  ages  in  the  history  of  the  world  :  i.  That  of 
Phillip  and  Alexander,  with'  Pericles  and  Demosthenes, 
Aristotle    and     Plato,  Apelles,  Phidias,   and     Praxiteles ; 

2.  That  of  Caesar  and  Augustus,  with  Lucretius  and  Cicero 
and    Livy,   Vergil    and     Horace,    Varro    and    Vitruvius  ; 

3.  That  of  the  Medici,  with  Michael  Angelo  and  Raphael, 
Galileo  and  Dante  ;  4.  That  which  he  was  at  the  moment 
engaged  in  depicting— the  age  of  Louis  XIV.,  which,  in  his 
judgment,  surpassed  all  the  others  ! 

Our  American  age  could  bear  no  comparison  with  age^ 
like  these — measured  only  by  the  brilliancy  of  historians 
and  philosophers,  of  poets  or  painters.  We  need  not, 
indeed,  be  ashamed  of  what  has  been  done  for  literature 
and  science  and  art  during  these  hundred  years,  nor  hesitate 
to  point  with  pride  to  our  own  authors  and  ajtists,  living 
and  dead.  But  the  day  has  gone  by  when  literature  and 
the  fine  arts,  or  even  science  and  the  useful  arts,  can  charac- 
terize an  age.  There  are  other  and  higher  measures  of 
comparison.  And  the  very  nation  which  counts  Voltaire 
among  its  greatest  celebrities — the  nation  which  aided  us 
so  generously  in  our  Revoluntionary  struggle,  and  which  is 


2o6 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


now  rejoicing  in  its  own  successful  establishment  of 
republican  institutions — the  land  of  the  great  and  good 
Lafayette,  has  taken  the  lead  in  pointing  out  the  true 
grounds  on  which  our  American  age  may  challenge  and 
claim  a  special  recognition.  Under  the  lead  of  some  of 
their  most  distinguished  statesmen  and  scholars,  they  have 
erected  a  gigantic  statue  at  the  very  throat  of  the  harbor 
of  our  supreme  commercial  emporium,  symbolizing  the 
legend  inscribed  on  its  pedestal,  "  Liberty  enlightening  the 
World  !  " 

That  glorious  legend  presents  the  standard  by  which  our 
age  is  to  be  judged,  and  by  which  we  may  well  be  willing 
and  proud  to  have  it  judged.  All  else  in  our  own  career, 
certainly,  is  secondary.  The  growth  and  grandeur  of  our 
territorial  dimensions,  the  multiplication  of  our  States,  the 
number  and  size  and  wealth  of  our  cities,  the  marvelous 
increase  of  our  population,  the  measureless  extent  of  our 
railways  and  internal  navigation,  our  overflowing  granaries, 
our  inexhaustible  mines,  our  countless  inventions  and 
multitudinous  industries — all  these  may  be  remitted  to  the 
census  and  left  for  the  students  of  statistics.  The  claim 
which  our  country  presents,  for  giving  no  second  or  sub- 
ordinate character  to  the  age  which  has  just  closed,  rests 
only  on  what  has  been  accomplished,  at  home  and  abroad, 
for  elevating  the  condition  of  mankind,  for  advancing 
political  and  human  freedom,  for  promoting  the  greatest 
good  of  the  greatest  number  ;  for  proving  the  capacity  of 
man  for  self-government ;  and  for  "  enlightening  the  world  " 
by  the  example  of  a  rational,  regulated,  enduring  constitu- 
tional liberty.  And  who  will  dispute  or  question  that 
claim  ?  In  what  region  of  the  earth  ever  so  remote  from 
us,  in  what  corner  of  creation  ever  so  far  out  of  the  range 
of  our  communication,  does  not  some  burden  lightened, 
some  bond  loosened,  some  yoke  lifted,  some  labor  better 
remunerated,  some  new  hope  for  despairing  hearts,  some 
new  light  or  new  liberty  for  the  benighted  or  the  oppressed, 
bear  witness  this  day,  and  trace  itself,  directly  or  indirectly 


INDEPENDENCE  DA  V. 


207 


back  to  the  impulse  given  to  the  world  by  the  successful 
establishment  and  operation  of  free  institutions  on  this 
American  continent  ? 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  GOVERNMENT. 

BROOKS  ADAMS,   BINGHAM,   MASS. 

We  all  know  the  history  of  the  war,  how  it  begun  at  Lex- 
ington and  Concord  and  dragged  through  seven  bloody, 
weary  years,  and  until  it  closed  on  the  day  when  General 
Lincoln  of  Hingham  received  the  sword  of  Lord  Corn- 
wallis  on  the  surrender  of  Yorktown.  During  those  years 
this  State  and  this  town  did  their  part,  as  they  have  always 
done  in  the  time  of  trial,  and  as  they  probably  always  will 
do  so  long  as  the  old  Puritan  stock  remains.  Meanwhile 
the  colonies,  having  thrown  off  their  old  government,  went 
on  to  organize  a  new  one.  Peace  found  the  country  rav- 
aged, war-worn,  ruined,  and  under  confederation.  The 
Declaration  of  Independence  had  boldly  declared  not  only 
the  right  but  the  capacity  of  the  people  for  self-government. 
The  task  yet 'remained  before  them  of  reconstructing  their 
government  and  thus  redeeming  the  boast  that  had  been 
made.  For  the  first  time  in  the  world's  history  popular 
institutions  were  really  upon  trial,  and  it  seemed  as  though 
they  were  doomed  to  meet  with  disastrous  failure.  How 
can  I  describe  that  wretched  interval,  the  gloomiest  years 
in  American  history.  The  confederation  hardly  deserved 
the  name  of  government.  There  were  enemies  abroad, 
there  was  dissension  at  home.  Congress  had  no  power  to 
levy  taxes,  so  that  not  only  the  interest  on  the  public  debt, 
but  the  most  ordinary  expenses  remained  unpaid.  There 
was  a  debased  currency,  there  were  endless  jealousies 
between  the  States,  there  was  mutiny  in  the  army,  imbe- 
cility in  Congress,  the  people  were  poor  and  discontented, 
and  at  length  a  rebellion  broke  out  in  Massachusetts 
which  threatened  to  overthrow  the  foundation  of  society. 


2o8 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


The  greatest  and  best  of  men,  Washington  himself,  was 
in  despair.  It  was  then  that  the  intelligence  and  power  of 
the  American  people  showed  itself,  it  was  then  that  they 
justified  the  boast  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  it 
was  then  that  they  established  government. 

No  achievement  of  any  people  is  more  wonderful  than 
this.  Without  force  of  bloodshed,  but  by  means  of  fair 
agreement  alone,  difficulties  were  solved  which  had  seemed 
to  admit  of  no  solution.  At  this  distance  of  time  we  can 
look  back  calmly,  and  we  can  appreciate  the  wisdom  and 
self-control  of  men  who  could  endure  such  trials  and  pass 
through  action  without  an  appeal  to  arms.  And  they  had 
their  rewards.  Nothing  has  ever  equaled  the  splendor  of 
their  success.  From  the  year  1789  to  the  year  1860,  no 
nation  has  ever  known  a  more  unbounded  prosperity,  a 
fuller  space  of  happiness.  In  the  short  space  of  seventy 
years,  within  the  turn  of  a  single  life,  the  nation,  poor, 
weak,  and  despised,  raised  itself  to  the  pinnacle  of  power 
and  of  glory. 


THE   TRUST  TO  SUCCEEDING   GENERATIONS. 

ROBERT   C.   WINTHROP,   BOSTON,   MASS. 

And  what  shall  we  say  to  those  succeeding  generations  as 
we  commit  the  sacred  trust  to  their  keeping  and  guardian- 
ship ?  If  I  could  hope  without  presumption  that  any 
humble  counsels  of  mine  on  this  hallowed  anniversary 
could  be  remembered  beyond  the  hour  of  their  utterance, 
and  reach  the  ears  of  my  countrymen  in  future  days  ;  if  I 
could  borrow'*  the  masterly  pen  "  of  Jefferson,  and  pro- 
duce words  which  should  partake  of  the  immortality  of 
those  which  he  wrote  on  this  little  desk  ;  if  I  could  com- 
mand the  matchless  tongue  of  John  Adams,  when  he 
poured  out  appeals  and  arguments  which  moved  men  from 
their  seats,  and  settled  the  destinies  of  a  nation  ;  if  I  could 
catch   but   a    single   spark   of  those   electric  fires   which 


INDEPENDENCE  DAY. 


209 


Franklin  wrested  from  the  skies,  and  flash  down  a  phrase, 
a  word,  a  thought,  along  the  magic  chords  which  stretch 
across  the  ocean  of  the  future— what  could  I,  what  would 

I  say? 

I  could  not  omit,  certainly,  to  reiterate  the  solemn  obliga- 
tions which  rest  on  every  citizen  of  this  Republic  to  cherish 
and  enforce  the  great  principles  of  our  colonial  and  revolu- 
tionary fathers— the  principles  of  liberty  and  law,  one 
and  inseparable— the  principles  of  the  Constitution  and  the 

Union. 

I  could  not  omit  to  urge  on  every  man  to  remember  that , 
self-government  politically  can  only  be  successful  if  it  be  .. 
accompanied   by  self-government    personally ;   that   there 
must  be  government  somewhere  ;  and  that,  if  the  people 
are    indeed   to   be   sovereigns,   they   must   exercise   their    ' 
sovereignty  over  themselves  individually,  as  well  as  over    \ 
themselves  in  the  aggregate— regulating  their  own  lives, 
resisting  their  own  temptations,  subduing  their  own  pas- 
sions, and   voluntarily   imposing   upon    themselves    some 
measure  of  that  restraint  and  discipline  which,  under  other 
systems,  is  supplied  from  the  armories  of  arbitrary  power— 
the  discipline  of  virtue  in  the  place  of  the  discipline  of 

slavery. 

I  could  not  omit  to  caution  them  against  the  corruptmg 
influence  of  intemperance,  extravagance,  and  luxury.  I 
could  not  omit  to  warn  them  against  political  intrigue,  as 
well  as  against  personal  licentiousness  ;  and  to  implore 
them  to  regard  principle  and  character,  rather  than  mere 
party  allegiance,  in  the  choice  of  men  to  rule  over  them. 

1  could  not  omit  to  call  upon  them  to  foster  and  further 
the  cause  of  universal  education  ;  to  give  a  liberal  support 
to  our  schools  and  colleges  ;  to  promote  the  advancement 
of  science  and  art,  in  all  their  multiplied  divisions  and  rela- 
tions ;  and  to  encourage  and  sustain  all  those  noble  insti- 
tutions of  charity,  which,  in  our  own  land  above  all  others, 
have  given  the  crowning  grace  and  glory  to  modern 
civilization. 


2IO 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


I  could  not  refrain  from  pressing  upon  them  a  just  and 
generous  consideration  for  the  interests  and  the  rights  of 
their  fellowmen  everywhere,  and  an  earnest  effort  to  pro- 
mote peace  and  good  will  among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

I  could  not  refrain  from  reminding  them  of  the  shame, 
the  unspeakable  shame  and  ignominy,  which  would  attach 
to  those  who  should  show  themselves  unable  to  uphold  the 
glorious  fabric  of  self-government  which  had  been  founded 
for  them  at  such  a  cost  by  their  fathers  :  "  Videte,  videte, 
ne,^  ut  illis  pulcherrimum  fuit  tantam  vobis  imperii  gloriam 
relinquere,  sic  vobis  turpissimum  sit,  illud  quod  accepistis, 
tueri  et  conservare  non  posse  !  " 

And  surely,  most  surely,  I  could  not  fail  to  invoke  them 
to  imitate  and  emulate  the  examples  of  virtue  and  purity 
and  patriotism,  which  the  great  founders  of  our  colonies 
and  of  our  nation  had  so  abundantly  left  them. 


POLITICAL  AND  PERSONAL  LIBERTY. 

JUDGE  DAVID   J.    BREWER,   U.    S.   SUPREME  COURT. 

Liberty  has  been  the  dream  of  humanity  through  all  the 
ages  ;  and  this  side  the  waters  there  have  been  two  great 
steps  forward  in  the  way  of  realizing  its  high  ideals.  The 
first  was  in  that  proclamation  whose  anniversary  we  this  day 
celebrate— the  proclamation  of  political  liberty,  the  great 
Declaration  which  ushered  into  the  world  a  government  of 
and  by  and  for  the  people,  which  dethroned  a  single  monarch 
and  made  all  men  rulers,  and  which  gave  to  the  world  a 
nation  whose  career  has  been  and  is  the  hope  and  inspira- 
tion of  humanity.  Only  in  a  new  world  where  the  tradi- 
tions of  monarchy  had  faded  away,  where  the  divine  right 
of  the  king  had  become  an  obsolete  thought,  where  men 
felt  the  touch  and  inspiration  of  the  free  air  which  blows 
over  our  mountains  and  prairies,  and  looked  to  themselves 
as  the  immediate  messengers  of  the  divine  purpose  to  lift 


INDEPENDENCE  DAY. 


1\\ 


each  man   up  into  a  pergonal  and  inalienable  inheritance, 
was  such  a  declaration  and  such  a  nation  then  possible. 

A  century  and  more  has  passed,  and  as  the  foundations 
of  this  Government  are  more  firmly  settled,  as  the  great 
structure  reared  by  the  fathers  now  spans  the  continent 
from  ocean  to  ocean,  and  has  victoriously  established  its 
right  to  be,  political  liberty  has  ceased  to  be  the  mere  dream 
of  the  enthusiast,  and  has  become  the  everyday  fact  of  the 
^  men  of  thought  and  action  in  the  world. 

This  was  the  first  step  ;  and  we  are  here  to  glory  in  it, 
and  to  boast  of  those  ancestors  who  suffered  and  toiled  and 
fought  to  accomplish  it. 

The  second  came  in  our  day.  Political  liberty  did  not 
mean  personal  liberty.  On  the  southern  horizon  was  a 
dark  cloud,  ever  threatening  the  peace  and  life  of  the 
nation— the  cloud  of  slavery.  A  multitude  of  human 
beings,  as  vast  as  the  whole  population  of  the  colonies  in 
1776,  were  held  as  chattels.  Wealth  and  political  power 
perpetuated  the  injustice,  and  it  seemed  so  fully  intrenched 
within  constitutional  protection  as  to  be  beyond  the  danger 
of  disturbance.  But  '*  whom  the  gods  would  destroy,  they 
first  make  mad."  Untimely  greed  precipitated  the  irrepres- 
sible conflict.  That  lone,  strange  man,  John  the  Baptist  of 
the  New  Dispensation,  struck  with  his  single  lance  the 
grim  monster.  John  Brown  died  upon  the  scaffold.  In 
that  rare  heroic  hour  of  death,  as  the  eye  grew  dim  to  the 
visions  of  sense,  did  the  Good  Master  bless  him  with  a 
glimpse  by  faith  of  the  glory  of  whose  door  he  was  thus 
unlocking  for  Humanity.  He  ''  lost,  but  losing,  won." 
The  dormant  conscience  of  the  nation  was  aroused,  lethargic 
patriotism  was  wondrously  startled,  and  from  Maine  to 
California  the  glad  refrain  of  the  responsive  song,  "  We  are 
coming.  Father  Abraham,  three  hundred  thousand  more," 
was  the  Jubilate  Deo  of  the  new  era.  It  was  the  crisis  of 
the  nation's  life.  We  saw  the  awful  horror  of  civil  war ; 
the  wrong  and  suffering  of  the  slave  were  balanced  in  the 
equipoise  of  eternal  justice,  by  the  blood  and  tears  of  the 


212 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION. 


race  that  enslaved  him  ;  the  trailjng  garments  of  universal 
sorrow  still  linger  and  shadow  every  home,  and  Decoration 
Day  is  the  great  In  Afej/ioriam  of  the  nation's  sacrifice. 
But  out  of  that  struggle  came  personal  liberty,  and  for  the 
first  time  there  was  written  into  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  in  the  thirteenth  amendment,  the  terrible 
word  slavery  J  and  written  in  it  only  to  contain  the  nation's 
declaration  that  it  should  nevermore  exist  within  its  borders. 
Personal  liberty  became  the  universal  afifirmation  of  the  law, 
and  the  second  great  step  forward  along  the  lines  of  human 
freedom  was  taken. 

New  York  Independent, 


OUR  NATIONAL  INFLUENCE. 

THOS.  AMITAGER,  D.   D.,  NEW    YORK  CITY. 

The  influence  of  our  nation  has  been  extremely  whole- 
some upon  other  nations  ;  chiefly  through  the  influence  of 
this  Republic  the  late  French  empire  failed  to  bring 
Mexico  back  to  monarchical  institutions  under  Maxi- 
milian. And,  certainly,  no  well-informed  man  can  doubt 
that  the  moral  weight  of  example  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States  has  been  very  great  upon  the  modern  political  history 
of  France  herself.  The  present  constitutional  Republic  of 
France,  built  up  over  the  grave  of  Napoleon  III.,  and  con- 
formed so  largely  to  the  model  of  our  own,  sufficiently 
attests  this.  Then  again,  the  power  of  the  American 
States  has  been  immensely  felt  upon  the  destinies  of  Spain. 
Unfit,  from  want  of  proper  educational  culture,  for  the 
liberties  of  a  firm  republic,  she  has  made  the  attempt  to 
found  one  with  an  amount  of  success  that  has  astonished 
those  who  are  best  acquainted  with  her  intellectual  and 
moral  status.  The  form  thereof  has  passed  away  for  the 
present,  but  the  seeds  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  have 
been  sown  in  her  constitution  and  institutions  so  freely  and 
efficiently,   that   they  can    never    be   uprooted    hereafter. 


INDEPENDENCE  DAY. 


213 


And  most  of  all,  the  reflex  influence  of  this  country  upon 
Great  Britain  herself  has  been,  and  is  still  felt.     In  many 
respects  the  influence  acting  back  and  forth  between  the 
two  nations,  the  one  upon  the  other,  has  been  reciprocal,  as 
would  be  natural,  arising  from  a  common  origin  of  lan- 
guage, blood,  common  law,  and  religion,  to  say  nothing  of 
the ''mutual    interests   of  commerce.     But  in  all   political 
aspects,    our  political  life  has  had  a  leavening  influence 
upon  them  tenfold  greater  than  theirs  has  been  upon  us. 
Within  my  own  memory  Roman   Catholics  could  not  sit  ui 
the   English  Parliament,  and  a  Jew  could  not  be  a  British 
citizen.     Now,  all  this  is  done  away  with,  and  as  in  our  own 
country,  no  religious  test  is  applied  in  her  parliamentary 
representation,  so  that  the  Catholic  commoner  and  peer  sit 
side  by  side  with  their  Protestant  fellow-citizens,  and  a 
native  Jew  has  been  Premier  of  the  empire. 


THE   MEN   OF    1776. 

HON.    ROBERT   C.   WINTHROP,    BOSTON,  MASS. 

Transport  yourselves  with  me  in  imagination  to  Phila- 
delphia      It  will  require  but  little  effort  for  any  of  us  to  do 
so    from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  from  the  Lakes  to  the 
Gulf    we  are  all  there,  at  this  high  noon  of  our  nation's 
birthdav,  in  that  beautiful  City  of  .Brotherly  Love,  rejoic- 
ing in  all  her  brilliant  displays  and   partaking  of  the  full 
enloyment  of  all  her  pageantry  and  pride.     Certainly,  the 
birthplace  and  the  burialplace  of  Franklin  are  in  cordial 
sympathy  at  this  hour ;  and  a  common  sentiment  of  con- 
gratulation   and  joy,  leaping  and  vibrating  from  heart  to 
heart,  outstrips  even  the  magic  swiftness  of  magnetic  wires. 
There  are  no  chords  of  such  elastic  reach  and  such  electric 
power  as  the  heartstrings  of  a  mighty  nation,  touched  and 
tuned,  as  all  our  heartstrings  are  to-day,  to  the  sense  of  a 
common  glory-throbbing  and  thrilling  with  a  common 
exultation. 


214 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


Observe  and  watch  the  movements,  listen  attentively  to 
the  words,  look  steadfastly  at  the  countenances  of  the  men 
who  compose  the  little  congress  assembled  there.  Braver, 
wiser,  nobler  men  have  never  been  gathered  and  grouped 
under  a  single  roof,  before  or  since,  in  any  age,  on  any 
soil  beneath  the  sun.  What  are  they  doing?  What  are 
they  daring?  Who  are  they,  thus  to  do,  and  thus  to 
dare  ? 

Single  out  with  me,  as  you  easily  will  at  the  first  glance, 
by  a  presence  and  a  stature  not  easily  overlooked  or  mis- 
taken, the  young,  ardent,  accomplished  Jefferson.  He  is 
only  just  thirty-three  years  of  age.  Charming  in  conversa- 
tion, ready  and  full  in  counsel,  he  is  "  slow  of  tongue,"  like 
the  great  Lawgiver  of  the  Israelites,  for  any  public  discus- 
sion or  formal  discourse.  But  he  has  brought  with  him  the 
reputation  of  wielding  what  John  Adams  well  called  **  a 
masterly  pen."  And  grandly  has  he  justified  the  reputa- 
tion. Grandly  has  he  employed  that  pen  already  in  draft- 
ing a  paper  which  is  at  this  moment  lying  on  the  table,  and 
awaiting  its  final  signature  and  sanction. 

I  am  particular,  in  giving  to  the  Old  Dominion  the  fore- 
most place  in  this  rapid  survey  of  the  Fourth  of  July,  1776, 
and  in  naming  very  many  of  her  delegates  who  participated 
in  that  day's  doings  ;  for  it  is  hardly  too  much  to  say  that 
the  destinies  of  our  country,  at  that  period,  hung  and  hinged 
upon  her  action,  and  .upon  the  action  of  her  great  and 
glorious  sons.  Without  Virginia,  as  we  must  all  acknowl- 
edge—without her  Patrick  Henry  among  the  people,  her 
Lees  and  Jefferson  in  the  forum,  and  her  Washington  in 
the  field— I  will  not  say  that  the  cause  of  American  Liberty 
and  American  Independence  must  have  been  ultimately 
defeated— no,  no,  there  was  no  ultimate  defeat  for  that 
cause  in  the  decrees  of  the  Most  High  ;  but  it  must  have 
been  delayed,  postponed,  perplexed,  and  to  many  eyes  and 
hearts  rendered  seemingly  hopeless. 


INDEPENDENCE  DAY. 


215 


THE  LIBERTY  WE  NEED  NOW. 

BY   REV.    J.    W.    LOOSE. 

The  national  holiday,  on  which  are  commemorated  the 
birth  and  independence  of  our  nation,  assures  to  all  equal 
rights  and  privileges.  In  this  broad  free  country  of  ours 
there  is  ample  room  for  the  legitimate  free  exercise  of  the 
most  progressive  mind  in  the  accomplishment  of  the 
greatest  possible  achievements.  The  poor,  by  dint  of 
perseverance,  industry,  and  economy  may  secure  to  them- 
selves comfortable  homes,  or  even  amass  wealth  ;  the 
obscure  may  rise  to  distinction  and  receive  the  highest 
gifts  of  the  people  ;  and  all  law-abiding  citizens  (iwt  a?i- 
archists)  may  alike  enjoy  the  blessings  of  a  benign  govern- 
ment.  Well  may  we  glory  in  our  true  liberties  and  in 
the  vast  possibilities  for  good.  But  in  the  midst  of  our 
national  advantages  it  may  be  well  to  pause,  and  consider 
what  it  cost  our  forefathers  to  secure  to  us  the  rich  boon 
of  independence  and  self-government. 

That  was  an  eventful  time,  when  the  thirteen  feeble 
American  Colonies  found  themselves  chafed  in  the  iron 
fetters  of  English  rule,  and  tremblingly  sighed  for  deliver- 
ance. But  the  electric  words  of  Patrick  Henry  thrilled  the 
patriotic  hearts  of  thousands,  and  nerved  them  for  the 
coming  conflict.  Said  he  :  **  We  must  fight !  an  appeal  to 
arms  and  to  the  God  of  hosts  is  all  that  is  left  us.  I  repeat 
it,  sir,  we  must  fight !  "  The  burning  eloquence  of  John 
Adams  and  other  leading  minds  filled  the  hearts  of  the 
people  with  the  spirit  of  independence,  and  last,  but  not 
least,  the  sober  deliberate  words  of  General  Washington  : 
**  Nothing  short  of  independence,  it  appears  to  me,  can  pos- 
sibly do,"  inspired  confidence,  and  nothing  would  do,  till 
on  the  4th  of  July,  1776,  the  fifty-six  representatives  from 
the  thirteen  colonies,  in  general  congress  assembled,  unani- 
mously signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  which 
declared  the  United  States  free  from  foreign  rule,  and 
provided  a  government  of  the  people,  for  the  people,  on 


2f6 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION-. 


the  basis  of  equal  rights.  This  was  hailed  with  great  joy, 
and  old  Independence  Bell,  with  the  Bible  inscription 
thereon,  **  Proclaim  liberty  throughout  all  the  land  unto  all 
the  inhabitants  thereof,"  sent  forth  its  glad  peals  for  two 
hours,  finding  everywhere  a  happy  echo  in  the  hearts  of 
the  people. 

Already  the  ground  had  been  made  crimson  with  the 
blood  which  flowed  freely  from  patriotic  hearts  at  Concord, 
Lexington,  and  Bunker  Hill.  The  people  and  soldiers, 
incensed  against  such  indignities  from  English  rule,  could 
no  longer  think  of  making  concessions,  and  the  struggle  for 
liberty  ensued  with  unrelenting  perseverance,  till  the  fetters 
were  broken  and  the  now  liberated  eagle  triumphantly 
soared  aloft,  clothed  with  majestic  power  to  protect  and 
bear  upon  her  wings  the  interests  of  teeming  millions. 

In  the  year  1783  the  new-born  nation  was  already 
acknowledged  among  the  powers  of  the  world  as  an  inde- 
pendent government  of  and  for  the  people.  And  now, 
only  a  little  over  a  century  since,  we  rank  among  the  fore- 
most nations  of  the  earth,  and  are  perhaps  second  to  none. 
Our  free  institutions,  which  are  the  very  backbone  and 
sinew  of  our  Republic,  are  yet  preserved  unto  us  inviolable, 
and  we  are  making  rapid  strides  in  educational  and  Chris- 
tian  civilization.  Ignorance  and  superstition  can  no  longer 
be  excused.  All  may  acquire  a  liberal  education  and  gain 
the  true  knowledge  of  God. 

But  what  is  the  secret  of  our  national  independence  and 
unparalled  prosperity,  is  a  question  which  well  deserves 
the  profoundest  investigation.  Was  it  the  discipline  and 
skill  of  the  Revolutionists  which  gave  them  success  ?  That 
can  hardly  be  the  case  as  they  were  not  well  versed  in  the 
tactics  of  war.  We  believe  that  with  their  loyalty  and 
faithful  use  of  arms  in  self-defense,  they  also  enjoyed  the 
favor  and  help  of  the  Almighty,  to  whom  they  had  appealed 
for  the  rectitude  of  their  intentions,  and  in  their  greatest 
extremities  sought  his  aid.  They  recognized  the  fact  that 
"  the  powers  that  be  are  ordained  of  God."     And  when  the 


INDEPENDENCE  DAY. 


217 


Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  being  framed,  after 
prolonged  debates,  and   when  seemingly   msurmountable 
difficulties  arose,  at  the  suggestion  of  one  of  the  dehberatmg 
members  it  was  «  Resolved,  That  daily  prayers  be  offered 
for  divine  wisdom  and  guidance."     Accordingly  a  mmister 
was  called  in,  who  devoutly  implored   the  wisdom  which 
Cometh  from  above  upon  that  honorable  and  important 
bodv      Need  we  wonder  at  the  utility  of  our  Constitution 
with  the  divine  element  in  it?      Had  not  all  difficulties 
better  be  settled  in  this  way  with  the  help  of  God  through 
nraver    than  with  misleading  debates  and  uncharitable  and 
unwarrantable  assertions  ?     Up  to  the  present  day,  we  as  a 
nation  have  not  forgotten  God.     Upon  our  currency  we 
have  the  inscription,  ^^  In  God  We  Trust."     As  we  pass 
this  currency  to  one  another  we  virtually  say.     In  God  ^^e 
Trust  "     When  we  send  it  across  the  briny  deep  to  foreign 
nations-even  to  heathen  lands  we  say,  -  In  God  We  Trust.' 
The  heathen  having  thus  learned  the  secret  of  our  national 
success  and  renown,  is  it  strange  that  they  shoud  welcome 
us  to  their  lands  with  the  open  Bible,  to  teach  them  the 
personal  knowledge  of  the  God  of  all  our  mercies  and 
benefits  ?   Our  national  independence  may  well  be  coveted, 
with  God's  favor  and  blessings.  .,.11 

So  long  as  we  trust  in  God  and  look  to  him  for  aid  in  all 
our  efforfs  to  cast  off  every  tyrannical  yoke  that  is  opposed 
to  purity  and  equality  of  rights,  we  may  be  assured  of 
increasing  prosperity,  honor  and  happiness.  Let  O  d 
Independence  Bell,  with  her  inscription  still  continue  to 
^^  Proclaim  liberty  throughout  all  the  land  unto  all  the 
inhabitants  thereof,"  till  every  man,  woman  and  child  shall 
be  delivered  from  all  oppression  and  enjoy  the  full  benefits 
of  advanced  Christian  civilization. 

We  want  liberty  from  anarchy  and  riot,  which  endanger 

our  property;  from  polygamy,  which  is  the  g-at  ^ra 

cancer  of  our  country  ;  from  the  pest  houses  or  brothels  of 

rrine  cities  and  other  places,  which  debase  our  race  be^^^^^^^^ 

the  brute  creation  ;  from  the  dens  of  vice  where  the  poisoned 


2l8 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


cup,  the  liquid  damnation  of  hell  is  dealt  out  to  unstable 
souls,  and  the  prosperity,  happiness,  and  honors  of  home 
are  forever  blighted.  Is  there  any  oppression  equal  to  the 
liquor  traffic?  Does  it  not  crush  the  wife  and  mother  into 
abject  poverty  and  clothe  her  children  with  rags  ?  Does 
it  not  burden  outraged  society  beyond  possible  endurance? 
and  may  we  not  reasonably  fear  that  it  will  bring  upon  us 
the  anathemas  of  that  Being  who  hath  said,  "  Woe,  unto 
him  that  giveth  his  neighbor  drink,  that  puttest  thy  bottle 
to  him,  and  makest  him  drunken."— Hab.  ii.  15. 

There  is  evidently  yet  a  great  work  for  Americans  to  do 
in  securing  the  moral  liberties  of  the  people. 

Grand  as  have  been  the  achievements  of  our  forefathers 
under  the  blessings  of  Almighty  God,  there  remains  a  great 
revolutionary  work  for  us  to  do  ;  not  by  dint  of  arms,  not 
at  the  sacrifice  of  fortune,  home,  and  life,  but  with  enlight- 
ened reason  and  a  pure  conscience  ;  we  want  to  do  our  duty 
everywhere,  and  especially  at  the  ballot-box.  We  no  longer 
want  to  countenance  evil  or  legalize  what  will  make^us 
blush  and  cause  a  net  to  be  spread  before  our  brightest  sons 
and  fairest  daughters. 

Evangelical  Messenger. 


THE    RELIGIOUS    REPOSE     AND    FUTURE    OF 

OUR   COUNTRY. 

REV.  JOHN    LEE,   B.  D. 

On  Independence  Day  two  thoughts  at  least  should 
occupy  every  mind  ;  the  power  of  a  religious  purpose  as 
manifested  in  our  national  life  ;  the  future  of  our  great 
country,  provided  she  is  loyal  to  God. 

To  tell  the  story  of  Jewish  history  and  leave  out  religion 
is  impossible.  In  every  page  of  that  history  God  lives  and 
moves.  To  tell  the  story  of  American  history  and  leave 
out  religion  is  equally  as  impossible.  In  every  page  of  that 
history  God—the  same  blessed  being  that  spoke  to  Abraham 


INDEPENDENCE  DAY. 


219 


and  conversed  with  Moses — lives  and  moves.  When  Co- 
lumbus set  sail  on  his  first  voyage  to  the  land  of  the  setting 
sun  he  speaks  in  his  journal  of  "  the  means  to  be  taken  for 
the  conversion  "  of  its  people  to  Christianity,  and  when  the 
weary  voyage  was  over  and  his  feet  touched  the  new  land, 
he  threw  himself  on  his  knees  and  kissed  the  earth  and 
wept  with  joy.  No  one  can  read  Parkman's  magnificent 
works  without  feeling  that  it  was  something  more  than 
adventure,  something  more  than  wealth,  that  actuated  the 
early  French  discoverers.  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  who  lost 
his  life  on  the  return  voyage  from  this  country,  shouted,  as 
his  last  message  to  his  fellow-voyagers  in  a  companion 
vessel,  "  We  are  as  near  to  heaven  by  sea  as  by  land  " — 
words,  dying  words,  that  throw  a  flood  of  side  light 
on  the  noble  spirit  which  prompted  the  early  English 
discoverers.  "Every  enterprise  of  the  Pilgrims,"  says 
George  Bancroft,  ''began  from  God";  and  William 
Tappan  gives  us  the  following  picture  of  the  New  England 
colonists  : 

Strong  was  their  purpose  ;  nature  made  them  nobles  ; 
Religion  made  them  kings,  to  reign  forever ! 
Hymns  of  thanksgiving  were  their  happy  faces, 
Beaming  in  music. 

What  was  the  motive  that  moved  Lord  Baltimore  to  found 
Maryland  ?  Was  it  not  religion  ?  What  was  the  principle 
that  actuated  Oglethorpe  to  found  Georgia  ?  Was  it  not 
a  noble  and  Christ-like  philanthropy?  What  was  it  that 
pervaded  the  life  of  him  whose  name  is  wedded  to  the 
State  of  Pennsylvania  *'as  long  as  the  sun  and  moon 
endure  "  ?    Was  it  not  the  spirit  and  the  teachings  of  Jesus 

Christ  ? 

That  power  which  we  observed  in  connection  with  the 
discovery  of  America—///^  pozver  of  a  religious  purpose — 
marked  its  explorers,  characterized  its  colonists,  made  itself 
felt  in  the  beginning  of  our  national  councils,  and  shaped 
the  career  of  the  Father  of  his  Country. 


220 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


America  belongs  to  the  Son  of  God.  Her  civilization 
is  not  the  outcome  of  the  teachings  of  Confucius,  nor  Mo- 
hammed, but  of  Jesus  Christ.  Her  laws,  based  on  Christian 
principles,  are  the  echo  of  God's  eternal  law.  Her  ruler  is 
He  who  spake  as  ''  never  man  spake."  Her  discoverer 
acknowledged  this.  Her  explorers  believed  it.  Her 
pioneers  and  founders  were  animated  by  this  blessed  truth. 
It  cheered  the  hearts  of  her  colonists.  It  gladdened  the 
souls  of  her  great  men  from  Columbus  down  to  the  one 
that  Galena  holds  so  dear.  It  is  the  cohesive  power  that 
makes  us  one  body  politic  out  of  so  many  heterogeneous 

elements. 

The  future  of  our  country,  what  shall  it  be?  Shall  we 
forget  the  benediction,  "  Blessed  is  the  ntition  whose  God 
is  the  Lord,"  and  shall  we  cease  to  remember  the  solemn 
proclamation,  '*  the  Lord  reigneth  "  ?  Where  is  the  nation 
to-day  of  which  Jerusalem  was  the  capital  in  ages  gone  ? 

Fallen  is  thy  throne,  O  Israel ! 

Silence  is  o'er  thy  plains, 
Thy  dwellings  all  lie  desolate, 

Thy  children  weep  in  chains. 
Where  are  the  dews  that  fed  thee 

On  Ethams'  barren  shore  } 
That  fire  from  heaven  which  led  thee 

Now  lights  thy  path  no  more. 

A  nation  that  acknowledges  not  God  is  just  as  certainly 
doomed  to  destruction  as  that  night  succeeds  the  day. 
Our  revolutionary  fathers  did  not  "vaunt  themselves" 
against  God,  saying  :  "  Mine  own  hand  hath  saved  me." 
Shall  we,  their  children,  throw  away  the  belief  that  made 

them  great  ? 

The  future  of  our  country,  what  shall  it  be  "^  In  the  light 
of  the  past,  can  we  not  learn  a  valuable  lesson  ?  Have  not 
the  sturdiest  battlers  for  God  and  right  the  world  has  ever 
known  been  the  strong  and  rugged  characters  produced 
by  the  teachings  of  the  Bible  ?      Were  not  Washington's 


INDEPENDENCE  DAY. 


221 


heartiest  and  chiefest  supporters  in  the  long  and  desperate 
struggle  such  men  as  these — men  who  had  crossed  the 
ocean  in  search  of  liberty  ;  men  who  were  of  more  value  to 
their  native  land  ''than  Californian  gold  mines  "?  Standing 
on  the  original  Bunker  Hill,  outside  the  city  of  Belfast,  on 
the  morning  of  the  ist  of  August,  1890,  I  remembered  that 
from  the  northern  portion  of  Ireland  there  came  to  the 
"sweet  land  of  liberty"  one-half  of  the  warriors  of  the 
Continental  army  ;  warriors  whose  unconquerable  heroism 
made  American  independence  a  possibility  ;  warriors  who 
were  indeed  the  Bible-loving  sons  of  Bible-loving  sires^  and 
I  rejoiced  in  the  blessed  truth  that  the  love  for  liberty 
manifested  by  these  warriors  in  life  and  death  was 
"strengthened  by  their  religious  opinions."  Remember 
this  important  fact :  God's  holy  book — the  book  of  which 
Jesus  Christ  says,  "  Search  the  Scriptures,"  the  book 
that  lifts  up  the  nations  that  obey  the  Saviour's  com- 
mand— reverently  kissed  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States  before  he  assumes  the  duties  of  his  office  is  not 
only  an  act  of  worship  proclaiming,  "  Blessed  is  the  nation 
whose  God  is  the  Lord,"  but  also  a  national  tribute  of 
homage  to  the  truth,  the  soul-inspiring  truth,  "  The  Lord 
reigneth  ! " 

Remember  that  the  Bible — the  book  that  has  made  us 
what  we  are  to-day — informs  us  that  God  says :  "  Them 
that  honor  me  I  will  honor,  and  they  that  despise  me  shall 
be  lightly  esteemed."  Is  not  this  the  book  that  assures  me 
that  Jehovah  declares  concerning  the  nation  that  obeys  not 
his  voice,  "  I  will  utterly  pluck  up  and  destroy  that  nation  "  ? 
If  we  dare  to  treat  this  book  which  has  "  God  for  its  author, 
salvation  for  its  end,  and  truth  without  any  admixture  of 
error  for  its  matter,"  as  if  it  were  an  unholy  thing,  then, 
just  as  sure  as  God  is  in  heaven,  just  as  sure  as  the  Jehovah 
despising  nations  have  faded  away  as  the  smoke,  so  sure 
will   the  Lord   God   Almighty   number   the   days   of   this 

republic. 

Epworth  Herald. 


222 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


THE    DIFFERENT    MOTIVES    OF    THE 

SETTLERS. 

COURTLAND   PARKER,    NEWARK,  N.  J. 

No  thoughtful  man  can  fail  to  note  the  difference  between 
the  motives  which  generally  brought  the  first  settlers  to 
America  and  those  which  have  actuated  other  immigration. 
It  was  lust  of  gold  which  led  the  Spaniard  to  Mexico  and 
Peru  and  Cuba  and  elsewhere,  mingled  with  the  stern 
missionary  martyr  spirit  which  distinguished  Jesuit  self- 
sacrifice.  It  was  lust  of  gold  which  in  our  day  settled 
California  and  Australia.  It  was  lust  of  wealth  and  power 
which  made  Great  Britain  mistress  of  the  Indies.  But 
with  those  who  from  1610  on  to  1700,  when  large  immigra- 
tion well  nigh  ceased,  defied  the  storms  and  sought  homes 
in  America,  whence  soever  they  came,  and  with  scarce  an 
exception,  whether  from  Holland,  Sweden,  Denmark,  or 
England,  the  motive  of  expatriation  was  the  full  enjoyment 
of  the  open  Bible — of  the  right,  that  is,  to  believe,  and  to 
act  upon  their  belief  of  what  it  teaches  ;  to  enjoy  the 
freedom  of  which  it  tells,  and  which  it  prompts  ;  a  freedom 
which  establishes  social  equality  among  all  men  combined 
with  and  because  of  subjection  to  the  will  of  God  ;  a  free- 
dom which  implies  law,  self-restraint,  love  and  regard  of 
one's  neighbor,  mutual  respect  among  all  citizens  ;  a 
freedom  which  prompts  activity,  self-improvement,  prog- 
ress ;  a  freedom  different  in  character  from  that  which  con- 
sists with  Atheism,  Theism,  or  irreligion  precisely  in  that 
point  which  has  made  these  two  nations  so  progressive,  to 
wit :  that  man  is  intrinsically  so  capable  of  elevation  that  it 
is  his  duty  ever  to  seek  it. 

In  a  word,  the  freedom  here  established  and  preserved, 
and  existing  in  the  mother  country  by  English  law,  illus- 
trates, at  least  in  comparison  with  other  nations  civilized  or 
barbarous  which  have  it  not,  what  is  declared  by  the 
Divine  Founder  of  Christianity  :  "•  If  the  truth  therefore 
shall  make  you  free,  ye  shall  be  free  indeed." 


INDEPENDENCE  DAY. 


223 


OUR  HERITAGE,  HOW  GAINED— OUR  DUTY. 

LEONARD  BACON,  D.  D.,    NEW  HAVEN,  CONN. 

We  have  a  goodly  heritage — how  came  it  to  be  ours  ? 
God  has  given  it  to  us.  How  ?  By  the  hardships,  the 
struggles,  the  self-denial,  the  manifold  suffering  of  our 
fathers  and  predecessors  on  this  soil ;  by  their  labor  and 
their  valor,  their  conflicts  with  rude  nature  and  with  savage 
men ;  by  their  blood  shed  freely  in  so  many  battles  ;  by 
their  manly  sagacity  and  the  divine  instinct  guiding  them 
to  build  better  than  they  knew.  For  us  (in  the  Eternal 
Providence)  were  their  hardships,  their  struggles,  their 
sufferings,  their  heroic  self-denials.  For  us  were  the  cares 
that  wearied  them  and  their  conflicts  in  behalf  of  liberty. 
For  us  were  the  hopes  that  cheered  in  labor  and  strengthened 
them  in  battle.  For  us — no,  not  for  us  alone,  but  for  our 
children  too,  and  for  the  unborn  generations.  They  who 
were  here  a  hundred  years  ago  saw  not  what  we  see  to-day 
(oh  !  that  they  could  have  seen  it),  but  they  labored  to  win 
it  for  us,  and  for  those  who  shall  come  after  us.  In  this 
sense  they  entered  into  God's  plan  and  became  the  ministers 
of  his  beneficence  to  us.  We  bless  their  memory  to-day 
and  give  glory  to  their  God.  He  brought  a  vine  out  of 
Egypt  when  he  brought  hither  the  heroic  fathers  of  New 
England.  He  planted  it  and  has  guarded  it  age  after  age. 
We  are  now  dwelling  for  a  little  while  under  its  shadow 
and  partaking  of  its  fruit.  Others  will  soon  be  in  our 
places,  and  the  inheritance  will  be  theirs.  As  the  fathers 
lived  not  for  themselves,  but  for  us,  so  we  are  living  for 
those  who  will  come  after  us.  Be  it  ours  so  to  live  that 
they  shall  bless  God  for  what  we  have  wrought  as  the 
servants  of  his  love  ;  and  that  age  after  age,  till  time  shall 
end,  may  repeat  our  fathers'  words  of  trust  and  of  worship, 
Qui  transtulit  sustinet. 


224 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


y 


THE  DEMANDS  OF  THE  HOUR. 

J.  M.  BUCKLEY,  D.  D. 

We  celebrate  the  anniversary  of  our  national  independ- 
ence with  songs  of  rejoicing.  We  have  occasion  to  sing. 
Whether  we  consider  the  material  progress  of  the  past,  the 
intellectual  improvement,  the  triumphs  of  our  nation  over 
evils  and  enemies,  the  wealth  and  power  it  has  attained,  or 
the  advancement  of  religion  and  the  manifest  care  of 
divine  Providence  over  our  country,  we  see  cause  for  rejoic- 
ing. But  let  us  not  overlook  the  demands  of  the  hour. 
The  rapidity  of  our  progress  emphasizes  the  importance 
of  vigilance,  sobriety,  diligence,  and  fidelity  to  principle. 
The  task  before  us  is  tremendous.  How  shall  this  im- 
mense wealth  be  turned  into  channels  of  usefulness,  so 
that  it  may  become  a  blessing  instead  of  a  curse  ?  How 
shall  the  poverty  and  ignorance  that  still  abound  be 
removed  ?  How  shall  the  vices  that  prey  on  the  life  of  the 
nation  be  overcome  ?  How  shall  the  vast  hordes  of 
foreigners  with  whom  our  shores  are  deluged  every  year 
be  enlightened  and  evangelized  ?  How  shall  the  Sabbath 
be  preserved  ?  How  shall  intemperance  be  arrested  and 
banished  ? 

When  these  questions  stare  us  in  the  face  we  see  that 
the  great  work  of  building  a  nation  has  only  just  begun. 
It  remains  for  every  American  to  be  true.  We  need  con- 
scientious teachers  and  ministers  and  statesmen.  There  is 
a  demand  for  honest  citizens  who  have  intelligent  convic- 
tions and  courage  to  act  on  them.  The  times  call  for 
purity  in  the  press.  Never  did  the  press  exert  so  power- 
ful an  influence  as  now.  The  opinions  of  men  are  formed 
and  their  political  course  determined  by  the  newspapers 
they  read.  The  moral  sentiments  of  the  people  are  largely 
formed  by  the  daily  press.  The  secular  press  is  chiefly 
responsible  for  the  political  corruption  that  prevails,  for 
the  bad  government  under  which  great  cities  groan,  and 
for  the  low  and  loose  views  of  citizens  concerning  Sunday 


INDEPENDENCE  DAY, 


225 


and  the  liquor  traffic.  The  press  is  not  so  bad  as  it  was  in 
the  beginning  of  this  century,  but  it  is  more  powerful.  It 
has  improved  in  character,  but  its  influence  has  increased. 
If  the  secular  press  could  be  imbued  with  conscientious 
honesty  and  purity,  all  needed  reformations  would  be 
speedily  achieved. 

Every  Christian  citizen  can  do  something  for  his  country. 
When  war  desolated  the  land  it  was  easy  to  see  that  the 
opinions  and  services  of  every  man  were  important.  It 
is  not  so  easy  to  see  that  this  is  so  still.  But  the  victories 
of  peace  are  more  important  than  those  of  war.  AVarfare 
of  a  different  kind  is  now  being  waged.  The  weapons  used 
are  not  carnal,  but  mighty.  The  forces  arrayed  on  either 
side  are  not  altogether  conscious  of  what  they  are  doing. 
Telling  blows  are  being  dealt  by  men  who  deem  not  that 
they  are  making  history  and  building  a  nation.  Everyone 
should  know  where  he  stands  and  what  he  thinks.  His 
convictions  on  the  Sunday  question,  the  liquor  question, 
the  question  of  the  relation  of  religion  to  the  State,  the 
question  of  political  corruption,  and  all  other  questions 
involving  the  interests  of  the  home,  the  Church,  and  the 
country  should  be  clear,  deep,  and  unmovable,  and  his 
private  and  public  life  should  correspond  with  those 
convictions. 

Neiv  York  Christian  Advocate. 


WHAT  THE  AGE  OWES  TO  AMERICA. 

WM.  M.  EVARTS,  PHILADELPHIA,  JULY  4,  1876. 

The  Declaration  of  American  Independence  was,  when  it 
occurred,  a  capital  transaction  in  human  affairs  ;  as  such  it 
has  kept  its  place  in  history  ;  as  such  it  will  maintain  itself 
while  human  interest  in  human  institutions  shall  endure. 
The  scene  and  the  actors,  for  their  profound  impression 
upon  the  world,  at  the  time  and  ever  since,  have  owed 
nothing  to  dramatic  effects,  nothing  to  epical  exaggerations. 


226 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION^. 


INDEPENDENCE  DAY, 


227 


i 


To  the  eye  there  was  nothing  wonderful,  or  vast,  or  splen- 
did, or  pathetic  in  the  movement  or  the  display.     Imagina- 
tion or  art  can  give  no  sensible  grace  or  decoration  to  the 
persons,  the  place,  or  the  performance,  which  made  up  the 
business  of  that  day.     The  worth  and  force  that  belong  to 
the  agents  and  the  action  rest  wholly  on  the  wisdom,  the 
courage,  and  the  faith  that  formed  and  executed  the  great 
design,  and  the  potency  and  permanence  of  its  operation 
upon  the  affairs  of  the  world  which,  as  foreseen  and  legiti- 
mate consequences,   followed.     The  dignity  of  the  act  is 
the  deliberate,  circumspect,  open,  and  serene  performance 
by  these  men  in  the  clear  light  of  day,  and  by  a  concurrent 
purpose   of  a  civic   duty,   which    embraced   the   greatest 
hazards  to  themselves  and  to  all  the  people  from  whom 
they  held  this  deputed  discretion,  but  which,  to  their  sober 
judgments,   promised   benefits    to   that   people   and   their 
posterity,  from  generation  to  generation,  exceeding  these 
hazards  and  commensurate  with  its  own  fitness.     The  ques- 
tion of  their  conduct  is  to  be  measured  by  the  actual  weight 
and   pressure  of   the  manifold  considerations  which   sur- 
rounded the  subject  before  them,  and  by  the  abundant  evi- 
dence that  they  comprehended  their  vastness  and  variety. 
By  a  voluntary  and  responsible  choice  they  willed  to  do 
what  was  done,  and  what  without  their  will  would  not  have 
been  done.     Thus  estimated,  the  illustrious  act  covers  all 
who  participated  in   it  with   its  own   renown,  and    makes 
them   forever  conspicuous  among   men,  as   it   is   forever 
famous  among  events. 


THE  SIGNERS  OF  THE  DECLARATION. 

The  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  our  Independence 
**  wrote  their  names  where  all  nations  should  behold  them, 
and  all  time  should  not  efface  them."  It  was,  '*  in  the 
course  of  human  events,"  intrusted  to  them  to  determine 
whether  the  fullness  of  time  had  come  when  a  nation  should 


be  born  in  a  day.     They  declared  the  independence  of  a 
new  nation  in  the  sense  in  which  men  declare  emancipation 
or  declare  war  ;  the  declaration  created  what  was  declared. 
Famous  always,  among  men,  are  the  founders  of  states, 
and  fortunate  above  all  others  in  such  fame  are  these,  our 
fathers,  whose  combined   wisdom  and  courage  began  the 
great  structure  of  our  national  existence,  and  laid  sure  the 
foundations    of   liberty   and    justice    on   which    it    rests. 
Fortunate,  first,  in  the  clearness  of  their  title  and   in  the 
world's   acceptance   of    their    rightful    claim.     Fortunate, 
next,  in  the  enduring  magnitude  of  the  state  they  founded 
and  the  beneficence  of  its  protection  of  the  vast  interests 
of  human  life  and   happiness  which  have  here  had  their 
home.     Fortunate,  again,  in  the  admiring  imitation  of  their 
work,  which   the   institutions   of   the   most   powerful  and 
most  advanced  nations  more  and  more  exhibit;  and  last 
of  all,  fortunate  in  the  full  demonstration  of  our  later  time 
that  their  work  is  adequate  to  withstand  the  most  disastrous 
storms  of  human  fortunes,  and  survive  unwrecked,  unshaken, 
and  unharmed. 

The  greatest  statesmen  of  the  Old  World  for  this  same 
period  of  one  hundred  years  have  traced  the  initial  step  in 
these  events,  looked  into  the  nature  of  the  institutions  thus 
founded,  weighed  by  the  Old  World  wisdom,  and  measured 
by  recorded  experience  the  probable  fortunes  of  this  new 
adventure  on  an  unknown  sea.  This  circumspect  and 
searching  survey  of  our  wide  field  of  political  and  social 
experiment,  no  doubt,  has  brought  them  a  diversity  of 
judgment  as  to  the  past  and  of  expectation  as  to  the  future. 
But  of  the  magnitude  and  the  novelty  and  the  power  of  the 
forces  set  at  work  by  the  event  we  commemorate,  no  com- 
petent authorities  have  ever  greatly  differed.  The  cotem- 
porary  judgment  of  Burke  is  scarcely  an  over-statement  of 
the  European  opinion  of  the  immense  import  of  American 
independence.  He  declared  :  ''  A  great  revulsion  has  hap- 
pened—a revolution  made,  not  by  chopping  and  changing 
of  power  in  any  of  the  existing  states,  but  by  the  appear- 


22^ 


THOUGHTS  FOR   THE  OCCASION. 


INDEPENDENCE  DAY. 


229 


t 


I 


ance  of  a  new  state,  of  a  new  species,  in  a  new  part  of  the 
globe.  It  has  made  as  great  a  change  in  all  the  relations 
and  balances  and  gravitations  of  power  as  the  appearance 
of  a  new  planet  would  in  the  system  of  the  solar  world." 

As  a  civil  act,  and  by  the  people's  decree— and  not  by 
the  achievement  of  the  army,  or  through  military  motives 
—at  the  first  stage  of  the  conflict  it  assigned  a  new  nation, 
ahty,  with  Its  own  institutions,  as  the  civilly  preordained 
end  to  be  fought  for  and  secured.  It  did  not  leave  it  to  be 
an  after-fruit  of  triumphant  war,  shaped  and  measured  by 
military  power,  and  conferred  by  the  army  on  the  people 
This  assured  at  the  outset  the  supremacy  of  civil  and 
military  authority,  the  subordination  of  the  army  to  the 
unarmed    people. 

This  deliberative  choice  of  the  scope  and  goal  of  the 
Revolution  m^de  sure  of  two  things,  which  must  have  been 
always  greatly  in  doubt,  if  military  reasons  and  events  had 
held  the  mastery  over  the  civil  power.     The  first  was  thav 
nothing  less  than  the  independence  of  the  nation,  and  its 
separation  from  the  system  of  Europe,  would  be  attained  if 
our  arms  were  prosperous  ;  and  the  second,  that  the  new 
nation  would  always  be  the  mistress  of  its  own  institutions 
This  might  not  have  been  its  fate  had  a  triumphant  army 
won  the  prize  of  independence,  not  as  a  task  set  for  it  by 
the  people,  and  done  in  its  service,  but  by  its  own  might 
and  held  by  its  own  title,  and  so  to  be  shaped  and  dealt 
with  by  its  own  will. 

Few  chapters  of  the  world's  history  covering  such  brief 
periods  are  crowded  with  so  many  illustrious  names  or 
made  up  of  events  of  so  deep  and  permanent  interest  to 
mankind.  I  cannot  stay  to  recall  to  your  attention  these 
characters,  or  these  incidents,  or  to  renew  the  gratitude  and 
applause  with  which  we  never  cease  to  contemplate  them 
It  IS  only  their  relation  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
Itself  that  I  need  to  insist  upon,  and  to  the  new  state  which 
It  brought  into  existence.  In  this  view  these  progressive 
processes  were  but  the  articulation  of  the  members  of  the 


state,  and  on  the  adjustment  of  its  circulation  to  the  new 
centers  of  its  vital  power.  These  processes  were  all  implied 
and  included  in  this  political  creation,  and  were  as  neces- 
sary and  as  certain,  if  it  were  not  to  languish  and  to  die,  as 
in  any  natural  creature. 

Within  the  years  whose  flight  in  our  national  history  we 
mark  to-day,  we  have  had  occasion  to  corroborate  by  war 
both  the  independence  and  the  unity  of  the  nation.  In  our 
war  against  England  for  neutrality,  we  asserted  and  we 
established  the  absolute  right  to  be  free  of  European 
entanglements  in  time  of  war  as  well  as  in  time  of  peace, 
and  so  completed  our  independence  of  Europe.  And  by 
the  war  of  the  Constitution— a  war  within  the  nation — the 
bonds  of  our  unity  were  tried  and  tested,  as  in  a  fiery  fur- 
nace, and  proved  to  be  dependent  upon  no  shifting  vicissi- 
tudes of  acquiescence,  no  partial  dissents  or  discontents, 
but,  so  far  as  is  predicable  of  human  fortunes,  irrevocable, 
indestructible,  and  perpetual. 


THE  PROGRESS   OF  THE    DIVINE    ORDINANCE 

OF  GOVERNMENT. 

WM.   M.    EVARTS. 

Tracing  the  progress  of  mankind  in  the  ascending  path 
of  civilization,  and  moral  and  intellectual  culture,  our 
fathers  found  that  the  divine  ordinance  of  government, 
in  every  stage  of  the  ascent,  was  adjustable  on  princi- 
ples of  common  reason  to  the  actual  condition  of  a  people, 
and  always  had  for  its  objects,  in  the  benevolent  councils  of 
the  divine  wisdom,  the  happiness,  the  expansion,  the 
security,  the  elevation  of  society,  and  the  redemption  of 
man.  They  sought  in  vain  for  any  title  of  authority  of 
man  over  man,  except  of  superior  capacity  and  higher 
morality.  They  found  the  origin  of  castes  and  ranks,  and 
principalities  and  powers,  temporal  or  spiritual,  in  this  con- 
ception.    They  recognized  the  people  as  the  structure,  the 


230 


THOUGHTS  TOR    THE  OCCASION. 


temple,  the  fortress,  which  the  great  Artificer  all  the  while 
cared  for  and  built  up.  As  through  the  long  march  of  time 
this  work  advanced,  the  forms  and  fashions  of  government 
seemed  to  them  to  be  but  the  scaffolding  and  apparatus  by 
which  the  development  of  a  people's  greatness  was  shaped 
and  sustained.  Satisfied  that  the  people  whose  institutions 
were  now  to  be  projected  had  reached  all  that  measure  of 
strength  and  fitness  of  preparation  for  self-government 
which  old  institutions  could  give,  they  fearlessly  seized  the 
happy  opportunity  to  clothe  the  people  with  the  majestic 
attributes  of  their  own  sovereignty,  and  consecrate  them  to 
the  administration  of  their  own  priesthood. 

The  repudiation  by  England  of  the  spiritual  power  of 
Rome  at  the  time  of  the  Reformation  was  by  every  estimate 
a  stupendous  innovation  in  the  rooted  allegiance  of  the 
people,  a  profound  disturbance  of  all  adjustments  of 
authority.  But  Henry  VIIL,  when  he  displaced  the 
dominion  of  the  Poi)e,  proclaimed  himself  the  head  of  the 
Church.  The  overthrow  of  the  ancient  monarchy  of  France 
by  the  fierce  triumph  of  an  enraged  people  was  a  catastro- 
phe that  shook  the  arrangements  of  society  from  center  to 
circumference.  Napoleon,  when  he  pushed  aside  the  royal 
line  of  St.  Louis,  announced,  **  I  am  the  people  crowned," 
and  set  up  a  plebian  emperor  as  the  impersonation  and 
depositary  in  him  and  his  line  forever  of  the  people's 
sovereignty.  The  founders  of  our  commonwealth  con- 
ceived that  the  people  of  these  colonies  needed  no  intercep- 
tion of  the  supreme  control  of  their  own  affairs,  no  concilia- 
tions of  mere  names  and  images  of  power  from  which  the 
pith  and  vigor  of  authority  had  departed.  They,  therefore, 
did  not  hesitate  to  throw  down  the  partitions  of  power  and 
right,  and  break  up  the  distributive  shares  in  authority  of 
ranks  and  orders  of  men  which  indeed  had  ruled  and 
advanced  the  development  of  society  in  civil  and  religious 
liberty,  but  might  well  be  neglected  when  the  protected 
growth  was  assured,  and  all  tutelary  supervision  for  this 
reason  henceforth  could  only  be  obstructive  and  incongruous. 


WDEPENDENCE  DA  V. 


231 


THE  ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  EXPERIMENT. 

WM.    M.    EVARTS. 

The  English  experiment  to  make  a  commonwealth  with- 
out sinking  its  foundations  into  the  firm  bed  of  popular 
sovereignty,  necessarily  failed.  Its  example  and  its  lesson 
unquestionably  were  of  the  greatest  service  in  sobering 
the  spirit  of  English  reform  in  government,  to  the  solid 
establishment  of  constitutional  monarchy,  on  the  expulsion 
of  the  Stuarts,  and  in  giving  courage  to  the  statesmen  of 
the  American  Revolution  to  push  on  to  the  solid  establish- 
ment of  republican  government,  with  the  consent  of  the 
people  as  its  everyday  working  force. 

But  if  the  English  experiment  stumbled  in  its  logic  by 
not  going  far  enough,  the  French  philosophers  came  to 
greater  disaster  by  overpassing  the  lines  which  mark  the 
limits  of  human  authority  and  human  liberty,  when  they 
undertook  to  redress  the  disordered  balance  between 
people  and  rulers,  and  renovate  the  Government  of 
France.  To  the  wrath  of  the  people  against  kings  and 
priests  they  gave  free  course,  not  only  to  the  overthrow  of 
the  establishment  of  the  Church  and  State,  but  to  the  des- 
truction of  religion  and  society.  They  defied  man,  and 
thought  to  raise  a  tower  of  man's  building,  as  of  old  on  the 
plain  of  Shinar,  which  should  overtop  the  battlements  of 
heaven,  and  to  frame  a  constitution  of  human  affairs  that 
should  displace  the  providence  of  God.  A  confusion  of 
tongues  put  an  end  to  this  ambition.  And  now  out  of  all 
its  evil  have  come  the  salutary  checks  and  discipline  in 
freedom,  which  have  brought  passionate  and  fervid 
France  to  the  scheme  and  frame  of  a  sober  and  firm 
republic  like  our  own,  and,  we  may  hope,  as  durable. 


This  nation  under  God  shall  have  a  new  birth  of  freedom, 
and  that  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for 
the  people,  shall  not  perish  from  the  earth. 

A.    LINCOLN. 


232 


THOUCHTS  1^0 R   THE  OCCASION. 


INDEPENDENCE  DAY. 


233 


I 


THE  PATRIOT'S  INHERITANCE— TFS  DANGERS 

REV.   W.    B.   RILEY. 

Standing,  as  we  do  today,  upon  the  eminence  of  more 
than  a  century's  growth,  we  can  look  back  the  way  we  have 
come  and  see  more  plainly  than  it  ever  appeared  before 
that  on  the  little  hill  just  out  of  Boston  the  battle  of  the 
17th  of  June,  1775,  changed,  indeed,  the  front  of  the  uni- 
verse and  set  liberty  so  far  in  advance  of  tyranny  that 
liberty  will  never  be  overtaken  again.  Children  born  in 
America  since  that  day  are  heirs  to  all  which  that  victory 
portended,  and  the  further  up  the  slope  of  centuries  we  go 
the  richer  will  be  our  inheritance  if  we  are  wise  and 
patriotic  enough  to  appreciate,  guard,  and  defend  the 
heritage  that  our  fathers  won  and  handed  down. 

The  patriot's  inheritance  is  liberty  of  body,  liberty  of 
mind,  liberty  of  conscience  or  soul.  But  we  should  note 
the  dangers  which  menace  it. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  sound  a  sharp  alarm,  because, 
personally,  I  am  not  scared  at  the  national  situation.  But 
to  say  that  the  patriot's  inheritance  is  not  endangered  at  all 
is  to  confess  ourselves  blind  to  some  of  the  mightiest 
movements  that  characterize  the  times.  I  believe  there  is 
danger  from  excess  of  immigration.  When  we  are  told 
that  eighteen  of  the  leadingt:ities  of  the  land  have  a  popu- 
lation foreign  born,  with  their  children,  which  ranges  from 
51  per  cent,  in  New  Orleans  to  87  in  Chicago,  shall  we  not 
feel  apprehension  ?  Francis  Walker  seeks  to  allay  fears  by 
declaring  that  our  immigrants  are  not  now  settling  in  cities, 
but  on  Western  farm  lands  instead.  We  are  not  frightened 
lest  our  material  supplies  should  fail,  but  our  alarm  is  lest 
their  ideas  of  government,  education,  morals,  and  religion 
should  prevail. 

Mr.  Beecher  once  defended  unrestricted  immigration  by 
saying  :  '*  If  you  eat  bear  you  don't  become  bear,  the  bear 
becomes  you."     The  argument  was  faulty  in  two  points.     It 


did  not  tell  us  what  would  happen  if  a  man  ate  a  whole  bear 
or  what  might  be  the  result  of  eating  diseased  bear.  That 
is  why  America's  stomach  is  aching  and  grumbling  to-day. 
The  trouble  with  thousands  of  the  immigrants  whom  Europe 
and  Asia  are  now  sending  to  our  shores  is  that  they  are  the 
offscourings  of  the  earth,  diseased  in  body,  brain,  and  soul, 
and  if  the  stomach  of  America  can  swallow  them  by  the 
shipload  and  assimilate  them  without  having  gastric  fever 
and  endangering  her  life  then  our  nation  is  a  gourmand 

indeed. 

I  believe  there  is  danger  from  the  success  of  Rome. 
When  we  remember  that  only  a  century  has  passed  since 
this  Church  first  set  foot  on  our  shores,  and  reflect  that 
already  her  adherents  equal  those  numbered  by  all  other 
Christian  denominations  combined,  we  may  well  inquire 
after  the  probable  end. 

Others  may  apologize  for  Rome  if  they  will,  but  as  for 
me,  when  I  remember  the  civil  and  religious  and  educa- 
tional shadows  which  this  intolerant  ecclesiasticism  has 
cast  upon  every  people  over  whom  she  has  gained  power, 
whether  in  Italy,  or  Spain,  or  Mexico,  I  fear,  as  General 
Lafayette  said,  "  If  the  liberties  of  the  American  people 
are   ever   destroyed   they   will   fall   at  the   hands  of   the 

Roman  clergy." 

The  printing  press  appears  a  less  reasonable  hope  now 
when  the  secular  press  is  subsidized  by  the  politicians,  and 
Rome  has  made  damaging  attacks  upon  on  cherished 
public  school.  The  preservation  of  our  inheritance  will 
demand  further  patriotism  at  this  very  point  of  popular 
education.  I  trust  that  we  are  ready,  as  the  rising 
generation  of  one  of  the  greatest  religious  brother- 
hoods of  our  land,  to  pledge  now  our  hands,  heads,  and 
hearts  to  the  effort  of  reclaiming  the  press  to  better 
things,  to  the  eternal  defense  of  our  national  system 
of  education,  and  to  that  general  diffusion  of  higher 
learning  which  is  possible  to  Christian  academies  and 
colleges. 


234 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


INDEPENDENCE  DAY. 


235 


THE    DEDICATION    OF    BUNKER    HILL 

MONUMENT. 

The  dedication  of  the  Bunker  Hill  monument  a  half  a 
century  ago  was  a  memorable  occasion.  The  corner  stone 
was  laid  on  June  17,  1825.  Daniel  Webster  making  the 
address  and  Lafayette  being  present.  When  the  shaft  was 
dedicated  the  oration  was  made  by  Mr.  Webster,  and 
President  Tyler  and  his  Cabinet  were  present.  In  1842  the 
monument  was  completed  and  the  address  written  by  the 
Hon.  Robert  Charles  Winthrop  was  read  by  ex-Governor 
John  D.  Long. 

The  dedicatory  ceremonies  were  particularly  impressive, 
but  it  will  best  be  remembered  by  the  grand  oration  of 
Daniel   Webster's,    which   concluded     with    the   following 

Immortal  peroration  : 

"We  wish  that  whoever  in  all  coming  time  shall  turn  his 
eye  hither,  may  behold  that  the  place  is  not  undistinguished 
where  the  first  great  battle  of  the  Revolution  was  fought. 
We  wish  that  this  structure  may  proclaim  the  magnitude 
and  importance  of  that  event,  to  every  class,  in  every  age. 
We  wish  that  infancy  may  learn  the  purpose  of  its  erection 
from  maternal  lips,  and  that  weary  and  withered  age  may 
behold  it,  and  be  solaced  by  the  recollections  it  suggests. 
We  wish  that  labor  may  look  up  here,  and  be  proud,  in  the 
midst  of  its  toil.     We  wish  that,  in  those  days  of  disaster, 
which,  as  they  come  on  all  nations,  must  be  expected  to 
come  on  us  also,  desponding  patriotism  may  turn  its  eyes 
hitherward,  and  be  assured  that  the   foundations   of  our 
national    power   still    stand    strong.      We   wish   that   this 
column,  rising  toward  heaven  among  the  pointed  spires  of 
so  many  temples  dedicated  to  God,  may  contribute  also  to 
produce  in  all  minds  a  pious  feeling  of  dependence  and 
gratitude.     We  wish,  finally,  that   the   last   object   on  the 
sight  of  him  who  leaves  his  native  shore,  and  the  first  to 
gladden  his  who  revisits  it,  may  be  something  which  shall 
remind  him  of  the  liberty  and  the  glory  of  his  country. 


Let  it  rise  till  it  meets  the  sun  in  his  coming  ;  let  the 
earliest  light  of  the  morning  gild  it,  and  parting  day  linger 
and  play  on  its  summit." 


THE   COST   OF   THE    REVOLUTION. 

To  the  picture  of  the  American  Revolution,  recalled  to 
us  by  the  17th  of  June  and  the  4th  of  July,  there  is  both  a 
bright  and  a  dark  side.  On  these  anniversary  occasions  it 
is  natural  and  proper  for  us  to  turn  the  bright  side.  The 
Revolution  is  to  us  the  source  of  unnumbered  blessings. 
Its  success  made  possible,  on  this  continent,  liberty,  repub- 
lican institutions,  and  national  greatness.  Well  may  we 
turn  the  bright  side,  for  no  other  nation  has  quite  so  much 
over  which  to  rejoice  and  be  glad  as  the  American  Republic. 
The  fathers  labored  ;  we  enter  into  their  labors. 

Meantime,  we  may  not  forget  how  great  the  cost  of  the 
war  to  those  who  fought  the  battle  and  endured  the  priva- 
tion. To  them  there  was  a  dark  side— we  can  hardly 
realize  how  dark.  The  direct  was  less  than  the  indirect 
cost.  The  war  debt  was  less  considerable  than  the  personal 
losses  by  the  derangement  in  business  and  the  exhaustion 
of  the  national  resources.  The  whole  nation  was  made 
poor;  there  was  not  a  house  where  the  plague  did  not 
come.  In  the  struggle  many  sank  in  the  stream  to  rise  no 
more  ;  others,  who  fared  better  and  in  some  measure  rallied 
from  their  misfortunes,  succeeded  through  the  struggles  and 
self-denials  of  a  lifetime.  Two  generations  were  hardly 
sufficient  to  recover  from  the  losses  suffered  by  the  war. 
The  trouble  touched  the  very  marrow,  and  penetrated  to 
the  secrets  of  the  soul. 

But  these  general  statements  are  less  impressive  than 
particular  instances,  where  we  are  permitted  to  look  into 
the  households  and  note  the  form  and  extent  of  sacrifice 
and  self-denial,  after  running  on  through  many  years.  We 
once  knew  such  an  instance.  The  story,  told  by  the 
Revolutionary  soldier  in  extreme  age,  impressed  us  with 


i« 


1' 


236 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


INDEPENDENCE  DAY. 


237 


this  indirect  cost  of  the  war.  Seba  Moses  was  a  young 
tanner  and  shoe  manufacturer  of  Barkhamsted,  Conn. 
The  little  money  he  had  was  in  his  business.  The  hides 
were  in  the  vats ;  the  leather  was  in  process  of  manu- 
facture. Though  small,  his  craft  was  fairly  launched 
and  under  full  canvas  when  the  Revolutionary  gale  struck 
him  with  great  force.  As  the  alarm  came  from  Lexington 
and  Concord,  he,  with  other  Connecticut  men,  followed 
Israel  Putnam  to  Cambridge,  in  time  for  Bunker  Hill. 
Though  in  the  thick  of  the  fight,  where  his  comrades  were 
hewn  down  by  the  British  broadswords  and  his  own  life 
was  in  the  most  imminent  hazard,  he  finally  came  off  the 
field  unhurt.  Terrible  as  was  the  ordeal,  he  would  never 
have  allowed  that  passage  to  be  torn  from  his  personal 
record.  Even  in  the  nineties,  as  he  recounted  it,  his  soul 
glowed  with  unusual  ardor.  At  a  later  date  he  was  detailed 
by  Washington  to  the  commissary  department,  where  he 
served  with  great  ability  and  fidelity  to  the  close  of  the 
war.  When  discharged,  his  peck  of  continental  money 
was  hardly  sufficient  to  pay  his  hotel  bills  on  his  way 
home. 

Meantime  the  business  at  home  was  in  ruins.  Nobody 
had  been  left  to  do  anything  ;  nobody  could  be  hired  to  cut 
a  stick  of  wood  or  plow  a  garden.  The  able-bodied  men 
were  in  the  army  ;  women  had  to  turn  their  hands  to  many 
an  outdoor  job  or  leave  it  undone.  The  hides  were  spoiled 
in  the  vats  ;  the  business  had  ceased  and  the  young  tanner- 
found  himself  involved  in  debt.  He  struggled  a  few  years 
to  recover  himself,  but  the  burden  was  too  heavy.  To 
escape  imprisonment  for  debt,  he  fled  to  New  York  and 
replanted  a  home  in  New  Lebanon,  where  he  resumed  the 
boot  and  shoe  manufacture,  making  sale  work  for  the 
vicinity  when  the  sale  method  of  our  day  was  as  yet  unknown. 
He  worked  hard.  After  rushing  through  the  day,  he  often 
hammered  away  far  into  the  night.  His  family  worked 
as  hard  as  himself.  By  the  most  amazing  industry  and 
economy  he  succeeded  in  paying  all  his  Connecticut  debts 


and  at  his  death  left  a  handsome  little  property  for  his 
family.  His  executor  found  several  thousand  dollars  in 
notes  against  poor  men,  which  had  been  suffered  to  outlaw 
because  he  would  not  oppress  them  by  enforcing  collection. 
The  lesson  of  compassion  to  the  poor  had  been  burned  into 
his  soul  by  his  own  hard  and  bitter  experiences.  In  this 
man  we  have  a  pattern.  There  were  thousands  of  such 
men  in  the  Revolution,  who  sacrificed  everything  for  the 
cause.  What  came  after  the  war,  in  the  shape  of  toil,  sacri- 
fice, and  self-denial  with  the  old  soldiers  and  their  families, 
was  often  more  trying  than  the  things  which  happened  in 
it.  Many  of  those  common  men  were  really  heroes,  with 
great  courage,  endurance,  and  high  purpose.  The  young 
tanner,  though  obliged  to  leave  his  Connecticut  home,  was 
a  handsome  contribution  to  the  then  frontier  town  in  New 
York.  His  example  was  an  inspiration  to  young  men. 
He  was  a  benediction  to  the  worthy  and  struggling  poor,  to 
whom  he  never  refused  to  lend  and  on  whom  he  seldom 
enforced  payment.  It  was  a  saying  of  his  that  a  poor  man's 
note  was  better  than  the  gold.  We  say  those  men  lost  all  ; 
the  character  they  built  towers  above  the  heavens.  They 
lost  the  material  ;  they  gained  what  gold  and  silver  can 
never  buy. 

Zion*s  Herald. 


Always  Some  Prejudiced  Ones.— In  every  country, 
no  matter  what  its  form  of  government,  there  is  always 
some  prejudice  against  the  living,  and  sometimes  this 
extends  even  to  the  dead.  The  piece  of  history  I 
now  propose  to  give  you  may  sound  strangely,  yet  it  is 
true.  We  all  have  a  deep  respect  for  our  Revolutionary 
sires  ;  we  revere  their  memory.  The  name  of  George 
Washington  is  precious  to  us  all.  He  lives  in  every  heart 
to-day.  And  why  ?  Because  he  was  a  true  patriot ;  because 
he  led  our  patriotic  sires  to  victory  in  behalf  of  liberty  and 
freedom.     But  do  you  not  know  that  during  the  revolution 


238 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


which  secured  to  us  such  priceless  blessings  these  patriotic 
fathers  organized  a  society  called  the  ''  Cincinnati."  Baron 
Steuben  was  the  first  president  and  George  Washington  the 
second.  Thus  linking  patriotic  hearts  in  closer  bonds  of 
union.  But  even  they  escaped  not  the  shafts  of  envy.  So 
great  was  the  prejudice  against  these  Revolutionary  fathers 
in  some  parts  of  the  country,  that  even  after  the  war  was 
over  and  liberty  won  the  graves  of  some  of  those  who  had 
fallen  in  battle  were  desecrated.  Plowshares  turned  the 
turf  which  rested  on  the  bosoms  of  fallen  heroes,  and  from 
the  soil  enriched  by  their  sacred  ashes  ruthless  avarice 
reaped  a  bounteous  crop.  Are  you  aware  that  one  State- 
Rhode  Island— passed  a  law  that  no  man  belonging  to  that 
organization  should  hold  office  in  that  State  ?  And  that 
Massachusetts  also  condemned  it.^  And  that  afterward 
the  pressure  was  so  strong  against  these  acts,  the  same 
States  repealed  them  ?  Such  has  always  been  the  course  of 
prejudice.  It  grows  without  reason  or  cause  even  in  a  land 
where  patriots  live  and  freedom  and  liberty  flourish.  And 
it  is  the  same  to-day  as  in  the  past. 

GEN.    JOHN    A.    LOGAN,    DU    QUOIN,    ILL. 

The  Perpetuity  of  the  Union.— When  my  eyes 
shall  be  turned  to  behold,  for  the  last  time,  the  sun  in 
heaven,  may  I  not  see  him  shining  on  the  broken  and  dis- 
honored fragments  of  a  once  glorious  Union  ;  on  States 
dissevered,  discordant,  belligerent ;  on  a  land  rent  with 
civil  feuds,  or  drenched,  it  may  be,  in  fraternal  blood  ! 
Let  their  last  feeble  and  lingering  glance,  rather,  behold 
the  gorgeous  ensign  of  the  Republic,  now  known  and 
honored  throughout  the  earth,  still  full  high  advanced,  its 
arms  and  trophies  streaming  in  their  original  luster,  not  a 
stripe  erased  or  polluted,  not  a  single  star  obscured,  bearing 
for  its-  motto  no  such  miserable  interrogatory  as  What  is 
all  this  worth  ?  nor  those  other  words  of  delusion  and  folly, 
Liberty  first,  and  Union  afterward,  but  everywhere,  spread 
all  over  in  characters  of   living   light,  blazing  on  all  its 


INDEPENDENCE  DAY. 


239 


ample  folds,  as  they  float  over  the  sea  and  over  the  land, 
and  in  every  wind  under  the  whole  heavens,  that  other 
sentiment,  dear  to  every  true  American  heart,  Liberty  and 
Union,  now  and  forever,  one  and  inseparable  ! 

DANIEL  WEBSTER. 


Liberty  a  Costly  Boon. — Tyrants  in  all  ages  have 
sought  to  exalt  and  glorify  themselves  by  trampling  out  the 
rights  of  the  people,  and  subjecting  them  to  the  merciless 
sway  of  despotic  will.  But  the  cause  of  liberty,  though 
crushed  and  almost  hopeless  through  centuries,  has  always 
lived  and  struggled  with  whatever  of  strcngh  it  could  com- 
mand against  the  foes  that  have  been  arrayed  against  it ; 
and  the  graves  of  its  victims  are  scattered  in  mournful 
array  along  the  pathway  of  nations.  The  bravest  and  best 
men  of  all  times  have  perished  in  the  struggles  against 
tyranny  and  despotism,  and  free  government  has  never 
secured  even  a  feeble  existence  save  at  a  most  fearful  cost. 
The  experiment  of  republican  government  in  our  own 
country  is  similar  to  that  of  all  others.  Here,  however, 
liberty  has  won  her  grandest  triumphs.  Here  freedom  is 
enthroned  securely  and  is  the  unchallenged  boon  of  every 
inhabitant.  But  we  contemplate  the  cost  of  the  victory 
with  mournful  and  pitying  hearts.  To  secure  it  the 
patriots  of  the  Revolution  died  ;  to  secure  it  the  hosts  who 
fell  in  the  struggle  against  the  Rebellion  were  sacrificed. 

h.  e.  havens,  springfield,  mo. 

Dissatisfied  Foreigners  Should  Return  Home. — 
We  have  a  government  strong  enough  to  protect  all,  but 
not  strong  enough  to  oppress  any.  We  have  liberty  guarded 
by  law  and  law  made  beneficient  by  liberty.  The  war  has 
made  us  a  more  homogeneous  people.  There  is  nothing 
that  binds  us  together  so  strongly  as  common  suffering  in 
a  common  cause.  Every  permanent  political  structure  has 
to  be  cemented  with  blood.  Our  adopted  citizens  from 
other  lands  have  been  more  thoroughly  Americanized  in 


240 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


sentiment  and  feeling  by  the  few  years  of  the  war  than  they 
could  have  been  by  a  long  lifetime  of  peace. 

Let  those  who  hanker  after  the  pomp  and  vanities  of 
royal  courts,  whose  vitiated  tastes  crave  the  leeks  and 
onions  and  fleshpots  of  Egypt,  talk,  as  some  of  them  do,  of 
establishing  imperialism  upon  American  soil.  Liberty  can 
afford  to  have  any  cause,  however  absurd,  advocated.  But 
let  those  degenerate  Americans  who  so  passionately  long 
for  the  stars  and  spangles  and  garters,  the  paraphernalia  of 
courts  and  the  livery  of  slaves,  let  them  prepare  to  die  in 
disappointment  or  emigrate  to  some  foreign  shore,  where 
they  will  be  allowed  to  hide  themselves  from  the  contempt 
of  mankind  under  the  shadow  of  the  rotten  dynasties 
and  aristocracies  which  they  profess  so  much  to  admire. 
Revolutions  do  not  retrograde.  The  index  finger  on  the 
dial  plate  of  destiny  will  not  go  back  to  accommodate  such 
spurious  sentiment,  or  gratify  the  vanity  of  a  race  of  syco- 
phants unworthy  of  their  country  and  their  age. 

REV.    WILLIAM    M'KINLEY,    WINONA,    MINN. 


EMANCIPATION  DAY. 


Historical. — There  have  been  several  days  in  the  history 
of  slavery  in  various  countries  which  might  be  designated  "  Eman- 
cipation Days,"  especially  since  it  was  ordained  by  God  that  in 
the  year  of  the  Jewish  Jubilee  the  rulers  of  his  people  should 
"  proclaim  liberty  throughout  all  the  land  unto  all  the  inhabitants 
thereof." 

An  emancipation  bill  passed  both  houses  of  the  British  parlia- 
ment August  7,  and  obtained  the  royal  assent  August  28,  1833. 
This  act,  while  it  gave  freedom  to  the  slaves  throughout  all  the 
British  colonies,  at  the  same  time  awarded  an  indemnification 
to  the  slaveholders  of  one  hundred  million  dollars.  Slavery  was 
to  cease  on  August  i,  1834,  but  the  slaves  were  for  a  certain  time 
to  be  apprenticed  laborers  to  their  former  owners.  Objections 
being  raised  to  the  apprenticeship,  its  duration  was  shortened  and 
the  complete  enfranchisement  took  place  in  1838. 

The  French  emancipated  their  negroes  in  1848,  and  many  of 
the  new  republics  in  South  America  did  the  same  at  the  time  of 
the  revolution,  while  the  Dutch  slaves  had  freedom  conferred  upon 
them  in  1863.  Slavery  ceased  in  Hayti  in  1791,  its  abolition  being 
one  of  the  results  of  the  negro  insurrection  of  that  year.  A  law 
for  the  gradual  emancipation  of  slaves  was  passed  in  Brazil 
in  1871  ;  from  that  date  all  children  born  of  slave  women  shall  be 
free,  but  they  are  bound  to  serve  the  owners  of  their  mothers  as 
apprentices  for  twenty-one  years.  In  1874  the  British  Governor 
at  the  Gold  Coast  in  Africa  announced  that  thenceforth  no  person 
could  be  sold  as  a  slave  in  the  protectorate  or  removed  from  it 
for  that  purpose.  Although  the  Declaration  of  Independence  of 
the  United  States  asserts  that  "  all  men  are  born  free  and  equal, 
and  possess  equal  and  inalienable  rights  to  life,  liberty,  and  the 
pursuit  of  happiness,"  there  were  in  the  colonies  that  threw  off  the 
British  yoke  several  hundred  thousand  negro  slaves— valued  at 
about  six  hundred  thousand  dollars— whose  condition  of  slavery 
was  expressly  recognized  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  as 
ratified  in  1788,  provision  being  then  made  for  the  rendition  of 
fugitive  slaves,  a  subject  to  be  regulated  by  the  Federal  govern- 
ment, but  slavery  otherwise  was  to  be  regulated  by  the  laws  of  the 
States  wherein  it  existed.  The  different  positions  of  the  Northern 
and  Southern  States  regarding  slavery  combined  with  other  causes 
to  engender  that  diversity  of  feeling  and  interest  between  North 
and  South  out  of  which  arose  the  Civil  War.  This  irrepressible 
conflict  came  to  a  climax  with  the  election  of  Abraham  Lincoln  to 

243 


^44 


THOUCHTS  POk   THE  OCCASTOJ^. 


EMANCIPA  riON  DA  Y. 


245 


the  Presidency,  led  to  the  secession  of  the  Southern  States,  and 
the  bloody  four  years'  war  which  tv\(\ti\  in  the  limitation  of  the 
principle  of  State  sovereignty,  and  the  consolidation  of  the  Union. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  War  the  people  and  leaders  of  the  North 
had  not  desired  to  interfere  with  slavery,  but  circumstances  had 
been  too  strong  for  them.  Lincoln  had  declared  that  he  meant 
to  save  the  Union  as  best  he  could— by  preserving  slavery,  by 
destroying  it,  or  by  destroying  part  and  preserving  part  of  it. 

In  the  course  of  the  War  many  negroes  were  emancipated,  and 
on  September  22,  1862,  Mr.  Lincoln  issued  a  proclamation  declaring 
all  the  negroes  of  secession  masters,  who  should  not  have 
returned  to  the  Union  before  January,  1863,  to  be  free.  This 
course  had  been  suggested,  and  the  minds  of  the  people  prepared 
for  It,  by  the  act  of  Congress  of  March  13,  1862,  which  forbade  the 
employment  of  miHtary  force  to  return  fugitives  to  slavery;  and 
that  of  July  16,  1862,  authorizing  the  contiscation  of  the  property 
of  rebels,  including  slaves  under  this  designation. 

Accordingly  the  following  document,  which  in  view  of  its  pur- 
poses and  effects,  must  ever  hold  an  important  place  in  the 
national  annals,  was  issued : 


PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas,  on  the  22d  day  of  September,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord,  1862,  a  proclamation  was  issued  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  containing,  among  other  things,  the  following,  to 
wit: 

That  on  the  ist  day  of  January,  1863,  all  persons  held  as  slaves 
within  any  State,  or  any  designated  part  of  a  State,  the  people 
whereof  shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  shall 
be  thenceforward  and  forever  free,  and  the  Executive  Government 
of  the  United  States,  including  the  military  and  naval  authority 
thereof,  will  recognize  and  maintain  the  freedom  of  such  persons, 
and  will  do  no  act  or  acts  to  repress  such  persons,  or  any  of  them,' 
in  any  efforts  they  may  make  for  their  actual  freedom. 

That  the  Executive  will  on  the  1st  day  of  January  aforesaid,  by 
proclamation,  designate  the  States  and  parts  of  States,  if  any,  in 
which  the  people  thereof  respectively  shall  then  be  in  rebellion 
against  the  United  States,  and  the  fact  that  any  State,  or  the 
people  thereof,  shall  on  that  day  be  in  good  faith  represented  in 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States  by  members  chosen  thereto  at 
elections  wherein  a  majority  of  the  qualified  voters  of  such  State 
shall  have  participated,  shall,  in  the  absence  of  strong  controverting 
testimony,  be  deemed  conclusive  evidence  that  such  State  and  the 
people  thereof  are  not  then  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States. 

Now,  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United 
States,  by  virtue  of  the  power  in  me  vested  as  Commander-in- 
Chief  of  the  army  and  navy  of  the  United  States,  in  time  of  actual 


armed  rebellion  against  the  authority  and  government  of  the 
United  States,  and  as  a  fit  and  necessary  war  measure  for  repress- 
ing said  rebellion,  do,  on  this  ist  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord,  1863,  and  in  accordance  with  my  purpose  so  to  do,  publicly 
proclaim  for  the  full  period  of  one  hundred  days  from  the  day  of 
the  first  above  mentioned  order,  and  designate  as  the  States  and 
parts  of  States,  wherein  the  people  thereof  are  this  day  in  rebellion 
against  the  United  States  the  following,  to  wit :  Arkansas,  Texas, 
Louisiana— except  the  parishes  of  St.  Bernard,  Plaquemines,  Jeffer- 
son, St.  John,  St.  Charles,  St.  James,  Ascension,  Assumption, 
Terre  Bonne,  Lafourche,  St.  Mary,  St.  Martin,  and  Orleans,  includ- 
ing the  city  of  New  Orleans— Mississippi,  Alabama,  Florida, 
Georgia,  South  Carolina,  North  Carolina,  and  Virginia,  except  the 
forty-eight  counties  designated  as  West  Virginia,  also  the  counties 
of  Berkeley,  Accomac,  Northampton,  Elizabeth  City,  York,  Princess 
Ann,  and  Norfolk,  including  the  cities  of  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth, 
and  which  excepted  parts  are,  for  the  present,  left  precisely  as  if 
this  proclamation  were  not  issued. 

And  by  virtue  of  the  power  and  for  the  purpose  aforesaid,  I  do 
order  and  declare  that  all  persons  held  as  slaves,  within  said 
designated  States  and  parts  of  States,  are,  and  henceforth  shall  be, 
free ;  and  that  the  Executive  Government  of  the  United  States, 
including  the  military  and  navy  authorities  thereof,  will  recognize 
and  maintain  the  freedom  of  said  persons.  And  I  hereby  enjoin 
upon  the  people  so  declared  to  be  free,  to  abstain  from  all  violence  ; 
and  I  recommend  to  them  that  in  all  cases,  when  allowed,  they 
labor  faithfully  for  reasonable  wages. 

And  I  further  declare  and  make  known  that  such  persons  of 
suitable  condition  will  be  received  into  the  armed  service  of  the 
United  States  to  garrison  forts,  positions,  stations,  and  other 
places,  and  to  man  vessels  of  all  sorts  in  said  service. 

And  upon  this,  sincerely  believed  to  be  an  act  of  justice, 
warranted  by  the  Constitution,  upon  military  necessity,  I  invoke 
the  considerate  judgment  of  mankind  and  the  gracious  favor  of 
Almighty  God. 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand,  and  caused 
the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  City  of  Washington,  this  ist  day  of  January,  in  the 
[L.  S.]       year  of  our  Lord  1863,  and  of  the  independence  of 
the  United  States  of  America  the  87th. 

Abraham  Lincoln. 

By  the  President : 
William  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State. 

The  work  of  emancipation  in  the  United  States  was  completed 
at  the  adoption  of  Article  XIII.  of  the  amendments  to  the  Constitu- 
tion, December  18,  1865,  and  the  reconstruction  of  the  States  m 
rebellion  upon  that  basis. 


246 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


THE    EMANCIPATION   PROCLAMATION. 


REV.  JOSHUA   A.   BROCKETT. 

In  the  celebration  of  the  emancipation  of  the  negro 
from  bondage  in  America,  and  the  importance  of  the 
proclamation  of  emancipation  by  the  negro's  friend,  the 
then  President  of  the  United  States,  Abraham  Lincoln,  and 
its  moral  influence  upon  the  life  of  all  nations,  and  par- 
ticularly this  nation,  it  were  well  for  us  briefly  to  consider 
the  various  circumstances  and  events  leading  to  emancipa- 
tion. 

I  shall  therefore  discuss  the  advent  of  the  three  classes 
who  first  became  permanent  inhabitants  of  this  country 
after  its  discovery  by  Columbus. 

I  shall  show  the  attitude  of  the  two  dominant  classes 
relative  to  the  problem  of  individual  and  human  rights; 
also  their  motives  in  entering  upon  the  occupancy  of  this 
country.  The  quest  of  the  world  has  been  and  is  for 
liberty. 

Because  of  the  unholy  desire  for  power  and  more  rapid 
accumulation  of  wealth,  the  great  and  more  powerful 
nations  have  at  some  period  of  their  existence  sought  the 
subjection  of  their  fellows.  They  have  committed  the 
grave  mistake  of  incorporating  in  legal  form  the  institution 
of  human  slavery.  It  is  needless  that  I  should  say  to  you, 
that  America  made  the  mistake  of  other  great  nations  in 
fostering  the  same. 

After  the  discovery  of  America  by  Columbus,  the 
fifteenth  century  witnessed  a  remarkable  awakening  of 
thought  and  enterprise,  caused  by  the  discovery  of  this 
country,  hitherto  unknown  to  the  civilized  world.  Since 
the  first  civilized  settlement  in  America  there  have  been 
three  distinct  elements  in  America's  population,  exclusive 
of  that  class  included  under  the  term  of  modern  emigrants. 

Europe  in  the  seventeenth  century  began  to  form  associa- 
tions for  the  purpose  of  establishing  commercial  colonies  in 


EMANCIPATION  DAY. 


247 


America.  The  first  of  those  companies  was  the  London 
Company,  which  was  chartered  by  King  James  I.  in  1606. 
This  company  sent  out  the  next  year  a  band  of  emigrants, 
who  established  the  first  permanent  English  settlement  on 
the  banks  of  the  James  River,  in  Virginia.  The  govern- 
ment of  Virginia  was  first  vested  in  a  council  appointed  by 
the  king.  But  after  a  number  of  changes  the  colony  was 
given  the  right  of  self-government,  and  a  house  of  bur- 
gesses, chosen  by  the  people,  was  established.  That  was 
the  first  representative  body  of  modern  times  in  America, 
and  held  its  first  session  on  the  19th  of  June,  1619,  or 
twelve  years  after  the  advent  of  the  colonists  into  this 
country.  Two  months  later,  in  the  month  of  August,  that 
company  of  Virginia  colonists  received  their  first  shipload 
of  negro  slaves. 

A  second  settlement  of  an  entirely  different  nature,  by 
the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  a  band  of  Puritan  exiles  from  Eng- 
land, who  had  first  sought  refuge  from  English  oppression 
in  Holland,  was  made  at  Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  on  the 
2ist  of  December,  1620.  They  had  no  kingly  authority,  nor 
the  power  of  any  nation  to  support  them  ;  but,  with 
undaunted  faith  in  God  and  the  justice  of  their  cause,  they 
acted  under  their  own  authority.  Before  landing,  however, 
upon  American  soil,  in  contradistinction  to  the  Virginia 
colonists,  they  organized  their  government  in  the  cabin  of 
their  ship,  the  Mayflower.  Their  civil  system  was  from  the 
commencement  thoroughly  republican.  Thus  it  can  be 
readily  seen  that  the  two  first  settlements  were  entirely 
different  in  their  form  of  government,  in  their  object  of 
colonization,  and  in  their  origin. 

The  Pilgrims  fled  from  the  home  of  their  birth  to  escape 
spiritual  oppression  and  bondage  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  first  colonists  toiled  on,  willingly  submitting  to  the  yoke 
of  royal  tyranny  until  given  the  right  of  self-government. 
Hence,  the  Pilgrims  who  fled  oppression  abhorred  the 
same  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  those  who  had  consented 
to  royal  oppression,  when  once  freed,  or  at  the  first  oppor- 


248 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION. 


EMANCIPA  TION  DA  Y. 


249 


tunity,  imitated  their  masters  and  enslaved  others.  Like 
their  fathers,  the  descendants  from  those  two  classes  have 
always  been  divided,  to  a  greater  or  less  degree,  on  the 
question  of  human  rights  and  human  slavery.  Notwith- 
standing that  slavery  once  existed  in  a  modified  form  in 
various  Northern  States,  the  North  has  always  exhibited  a 
decided  opposition  to  the  course. 

In  the  year  1820,  the  territory  of  Missouri  presented  its 
petition  to  Congress  for  admission  as  a  State,  with  a  con- 
stitution sanctioning  slavery;  but  there  was  a  general 
determination  on  the  part  of  the  free  States  to  oppose  the 
admission  of  another  slave-hoiding  State.  This  was  the 
first  decisive  move  toward  America's  red  rubicon.  The 
Southern  members  of  Congress,  however,  insisted  that 
Missouri  had  a  right  to  choose  her  own  institutions,  and 
threatened  to  withdraw  from  the  Union  if  that  right  was 
denied  her  by  refusing  the  territory  admission  into  the 
Union. 

A  bitter  contest  with  regard  to  slavery  now  developed 
itself  between  the  two  sections  of  the  Union.  That  con- 
test continued  until  Henry  Clay  presented  that  series  of 
measures  known  as  the  Missouri  Compromise.  Thus  the 
question  of  slavery  lay  dormant  under  the  conditions  of 
those  measures  for  thirty  years.  But  in  the  fall  of  the 
year  1848,  upon  the  election  of  Zachary  Taylor  of  Louisiana, 
by  the  Whig  party,  the  slavery  question  again  presented 
itself  in  a  most  aggravated  form.  At  that  time  both  the 
enemies  and  friends  of  slavery  had  grown  more  powerful 
since  the  temporary  settlement  in  1820.  At  that  time,  also, 
a  strong  anti-slavery  society  had  grown  up  in  the  North,' 
which  was  determined  to  oppose  the  extension  of  slavery 
beyond  its  then  existing  limits. 

In  the  Presidential  election  of  i860  there  were  four 
parties  in  the  field,  claiming  the  support  of  the  people. 
The  vital  issue  in  that  campaign  was  the  question  of 
slavery  in  the  territories.  The  Republican  party  had  as 
their  candidate  in  that  campaign,  Abraham  Lincoln.     The 


Democratic  party  was  divided  into  two  factions.  The 
fourth  party  was  the  Constitutional  Union  party.  The 
contest  was  bitter  beyond  all  precedent.  It  resulted  in 
the  election  of  Abraham  Lincoln  to  the  Presidency  of  the 
Union. 

Prior  to  the  election,  the  threat  of  withdrawal  from  the 
Union  by  the  South  was  repeated  ;  and  after  the  election 
of  Abraham  Lincoln  was  ascertained  to  be  a  fact  beyond 
dispute,  the  Legislature  of  South  Carolina  summoned  a 
convention  of  the  people  on  the  17th  of  December,  i860, 
adopted  articles  of  secession,  and  withdrew  that  State  from 
the  Union  on  the  20th  day  of  December,  after  which 
the  following-named  States  seceded  in  the  order  given  : 
Mississippi,  Florida,  Alabama,  Georgia,  Louisiana,  and 
Texas.  Thus,  in  the  midst  of  national  turmoil  and  on  the 
verge  of  a  grim  and  desolating  war,  the  Republican  nominee 
came  into  office.  History  once  again  repeated  itself  after 
centuries,  and  gave  to  the  world  a  second  Moses. 

In  the  guidance,  control,  and  saving  the  ship  of  state 
from  total  wreck  among  the  rocks  of  secession  and  breakers 
of  rebellion,  never  was  there  a  greater  task  given  to  mortal 
stewardship.  In  connection  with  this  I  here  quote  a  state- 
ment from  Mr.  Lincoln's  address  to  the  lower  house  of 
New  Jersey,  while  en  route  for  the  inaugural  ceremonies  at 
Washington.     Said  the  President-elect  : 

**  I  shall  endeavor  to  take  the  ground  I  deem  most  just 
to  the  North,  East,  West,  the  South,  and  the  whole  country. 
Received  as  I  am  by  the  members  of  a  legislature,  the 
majority  of  whom  do  not  agree  with  me  in  political  senti- 
ments, I  trust  that  I  may  have  their  assistance  in  piloting 
the  ship  of  state  through  this  voyage,  surrounded  by  perils 
as  it  is,  for  if  it  should  suffer  wreck  now  there  will  be  no 
pilot  ever  needed  for  another  voyage." 

But,  as  the  storm-dipping  eagle  nurtures  her  eaglets 
amid  the  thunder-scarred  crags  and  peaks  of  the  loftiest 
mountains,  and  teaches  them  to  float  with  joy  on  the  light- 
ning-torn bosom  of  the  blackest  storm,  so  had  the  Almighty, 


250 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASIOl^. 


EM  A  NCI  PA  TION  DA  V. 


251 


while  the  storms  of  war's  horrors  were  marshaling  their 
forces  of  awful  wrath,  raised  up  the  man  of  liberty  amid 
the  majestic  forests  of  a  Western  home.  Like  ancient 
Israel,  the  prayers,  tears,  and  groans  of  mothers  and  sisters 
had  gone  up  a  pitiful  memorial  to  God.  And  when  the 
thunders  of  cannon,  on  land  and  sea,  began  to  shock  the 
continent  with  their  fearful  din,  forth  came  the  choice  of 
God — the  man  of  liberty. 

Notwithstanding  that  various  official  mistakes  were 
made  in  the  commencement  of  his  administration,  never  has 
there  a  greater  man  graced  American  soil,  nor  the  whole 
circumference  of  God's  footstool,  than  Abraham  Lincoln. 

Pause  for  a  moment  and  reflect  upon  his  position  as  the 
ruler  of  a  divided  nation. 

Aye,  well  might  the  powers  of  the  world  look  in  per- 
plexed amazement  as  he  assumed  the  duties  of  state,  with 
an  army  posted  on  the  distant  Indian  frontier  numbering 
but  sixteen  thousand,  and  most  of  the  serviceable  war  vessels 
in  foreign  waters. 

Fort  Sumter  was  fired  upon  on  April  12,  1861. 

Then  it  was  that  the  call  was  made  for  seventy-five 
thousand  troops.     The  war  was  on. 

Virginia,  on  April  17,  Arkansas,  North  Carolina,  and 
Tennessee  now  seceded— the  eagles  of  North  and  South 
hastened  to  battle. 

The  South  was  belted  with  the  fiery  girdle  of  Northern 
wrath  ;  but  in  it  lay  the  salvation  of  the  republic  and  the 
solution  of  a  question  the  principle  of  which  rested  upon 
the  acknowledgment  of  the  fatherhood  of  God  and  the 
brotherhood  of  man. 

Never  has  Heaven  looked  upon,  nor  have  the  powers  of 
earth  engaged  in,  a  conflict  based  on  the  one  side  upon 
principles  more  human,  on  the  other  so  dark  and  sinister, 
as  was  the  late  war. 

But  soon  from  the  scene  of  conflict  went  back  trains  bear- 
ing the  dead  and  dying.  The  dead  sons  of  the  North  told 
the  story  of  defeat  and  humiliation  to  Union  arms. 


I 


Against  the  gleaming  horizon  of  a  Southern  sky  the 
galaxy  of  Southern  officers  were  silhouetted  like  a  constel- 
lation of  stars  of  the  first  magnitude. 

The  folly  of  supposing  that  all  the  bravery  belonged  to 
the  North  was  fully  demonstrated.  Then  it  was  that 
Northern  matrons  brought  the  powers  of  their  judgment, 
unfettered  by  the  excitement  of  battle,  to  the  aid  of  the 
Union.  Garrison,  Sumner,  and  Phillips  thundered  in  behalf 
of  the  slave.  Whittier,  the  Quaker  poet,  sang  the  songs  of 
emancipation.  The  united  voices  of  the  Hutchinson  family 
caused  thousands  to  labor  in  behalf  of  the  bondmen  ;  while 
the  mantle  of  inspiration  fell  upon  the  negro  poet,  Hortore 
of  North  Carolina,  and  he  sang  : 

Come,  melting  pity,  from  afar. 
And  break  this  vast,  enormous  bar 
Between  a  wretch  and  thee. 

Purchase  a  few  short  days  of  time, 
And  bid  a  vassal  soar  sublime 
On  wings  of  liberty. 

Thus,  while  fresh  troops  came  to  the  front,  with  them  came 
the  lion  of  the  Federal  troops  out  of  the  West,  a  mystery  in 
his  silence,  but  grim  in  purpose — the  immortal  Grant.  Vic- 
tory perched  upon  his  banners,  and,  in  the  midst  of  joy,  on 
January  i,  1863,  went  forth  the  decree  of  emancipation, 
the  proclamation  of  which  startled  the  world  with  its  just 
magnanimity  and  challenged  the  admiration  of  an  onlook- 
ing  universe.  Five  millions  of  people,  helpless,  worse 
than  poor  because  of  their  ignorance,  made  the  air  resonant 
with  their  songs  of  praise. 

Along  the  dusty  turnpikes  men,  women,  and  children 
journeyed  with  joy— but  where? 

The  world's  history  does  not  furnish  a  parallel  case. 
But  with  undaunted  courage  they  faced  the  world,  wrested 
from  the  field  its  stores,  and,  under  the  star  of  nominal 
liberty,  they  are  marching  on  to-day  to  a  higher  destiny 


I 


252 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


EMANCIPA  TION  DA  Y. 


253 


and  to  an  exalted  plane  of  heroic  endeavor  undreamed  of 
by  their  liberator. 

The  years  past  have  enabled  us  to  give  to  the  civilizing 
agencies  of  the  country  a  just  proportion  of  skilled  mechanics, 
contractors,  farmers,  merchants,  successful  journalists, 
physicians,  and  eminent  lawyers.  These,  with  their  accumu- 
lations, are  the  personal  accessories  of  an  advanced  civili- 
zation. 

To  have  succeeded  in  the  years  that  are  past  is  not 
enough  ;  but  to  be  more  successful  in  the  future  should  be 
our  constant  aim. 

The  successes  referred  to  have  been  achieved  by  sternest 
efforts,  ofttimes  amid  harsh  injustice  and  cruel  oppression 
on  the  part  of  a  grosser  element  of  the  white  race.  But  I 
do  not,  I  cannot,  believe  that  the  violation  of  the  majesty 
of  State  and  national  law,  by  the  frequent  lynching  of 
negroes,  is  indorsed  by  the  more  cultured  and  respectable 
of  our  white  friends.  Nay,  they  realize  that  such  crimes 
carry  within  themselves  the  germs  of  self  destruction. 

These  crimes  place  an  indictment  upon  the  loyalty  of 
the  State  to  the  national  constitution,  so  long  as  they  are 
allowed  to  pass  unnoticed  by  the  administration  ;  and  it  is 
impossible  for  either  white  or  colored,  who  desire  the 
highest  good  for  our  State,  to  longer  tolerate  these  ungodly 
proceedings,  which  can  only  be  denominated  an  agreement 
with  death  and  a  covenant  with  hell. 

It  is  a  fact,  believed  the  world  over,  that  a  dominant 
characteristic  of  all  Americans  is  a  love  of  fair  play.  But 
the  treatment  which  the  negro  has  received  in  the  past 
decade,  at  the  hands  of  our  friends,  does  not  confirm  this 
opinion.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  too  true,  in  many  instances, 
that  even  the  right  to  life  is  denied. 

I  come  to  plead  naught  of  the  question  which  has  proved 
such  a  hideous  nightmare — social  equality.  As  there  ever 
will  be  different  grades  and  circles  of  social  existence,  there 
never  can,  nay,  nor  never  will  be,  absolute  social  equality 
in  this  or  any  land  ;    and   as  a  race  we  deprecate  any 


attempt  to  nullify  or  abridge  this  unwritten  law  of  the 

ages. 

But,  inasmuch  as  the  Almighty  has  created  his  children 
of  various  hues,  I  plead  again,  that  if  one  of  these  children 
be  cast  in  an  image  of  pearl,  another  in  the  image  of  ebony, 
another  in  the  image  of  bronze,  if  their  work  be  meritori- 
ous, then  should  they  receive  social  and  public  recognition 
for  their  work's  sake.  Those  works  demonstrate  beyond 
all  cavil  that  the  souls  enshrined  within  those  caskets  eman- 
ate from  the  same  divine  source  and  partake  of  the  same 
indefinable  essence  of  infinitude.  White  men,  grant  these 
rights  to  us  ;  and  in  return  we  renew  our  pledge,  that 
should  the  devastating  flames  seize  with  hot  hand  your 
homes  or  stores,  the  brawn  of  black  hands  and  the  loyalty 
of  true  hearts  will  assist  in  their  subjection.  Should  the 
dread  breath  of  pestilence  visit  our  cities  and  towns,  we 
pledge  the  skill  of  our  physicians  in  common  with  yours, 
and  the  affectionate  care  of  our  mothers  to  nurture  your 
sick  and  swathe  your  dead. 

We  declare  that  we  will  spring  with  loyalty  to^ay,  as  in 
the  past,  to  protect  the  sanctity  of  your  home  and  the  virtue 
of  your  wives  and  daughters.  Will  you  keep  hands  off  of 
ours?  Let  these  and  other  similar  duties  be  performed, 
each  toward  the  other,  and  it  is  my  prophecy,  the  return  of 
each  anniversary  of  the  Emancipation  Day  will  be  hailed 
with  greatly  increased  joy  by  both  black  and  white.  The 
lessons  of  the  hour  are,  therefore,  how  to  live  and  adjust 
ourselves  (both  races)  to  changing  times  and  conditions,  how 
to  strangle  and  utterly  destroy  the  black  incubus  of  lynch 
law,  so  that  our  lands  shall  be  made  more  productive  and 
our  people  more  God-fearing  and  better.  Solve  these 
questions,  and,  notwithstanding  that  we  rejoice  in  the 
present  prosperity  of  our  State,  I  predict  a  brighter  day,  a 
more  golden  prosperity. 

As  the  children  of  light  come  trooping  up  the  eastern 
sky,  and,  with  rosy  fingers,  fold  back  the  curtains  of  dawn  ; 
as  Aurora,  with  flaming  cheeks,  rolls  in  her  fiery  chariot  up 


i 


254 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


through  the  gates  of  day,  and  bathes  all  nature  with  a  flood 
of  light,  so  is  the  present  prosperity  of  our  State  and  its 
citizens  but  the  dawn  of  a  brighter  day  in  future  enterprises. 
These  blessings  must  we  attribute  unto  God,  through  the 
efficiency  and  patriotism  and  faithfulness  of  his  steward 
and  our  liberator,  Abraham  Lincoln.  Of  his  greatness, 
future  generations  shall  speak  more  clearly  than  we.  In 
him,  we  know,  were  blended  the  chivalry  of  Southern 
cavaliers  and  the  virtues  of  Northern  Puritans,  with  a 
manliness  and  individuality  surpassing  both.  From  the 
hovering  clouds,  clothed  with  splendor,  capped  with  glory 
upon  glory,  looks  the  spirit  of  our  martyr  friend  to-day, 
side  by  side  with  Moses,  the  emancipator  of  Israel,  with 
Pericles  of  Greece,  with  Cromwell  of  England.  But 
infinitely  above  these  and  the  gods  of  ancient  lore  is  the 
spirit  of  our  friend,  because,  not  for  his  own,  but  a  different 
race,  he  offered  up  his  life. 

Let  this  day  be  to  us  as  sacred  as  was  the  night  of  the 
Passover  to  ancient  Israel.  Let  the  anthems  of  your  praise 
ring  out  with  joyous  liberty  until  the  glad  sound  shall  be 
caught  up  by  the  hoary  heights  of  the  western  mountains — 
**  Lincoln  and  freedom  !  "  By  the  mountains  let  the  electric 
words  be  hurled  down  to  the  embattled  hills — thence,  down 
to  the  lowlands,  through  the  shaded  aisles  of  dark-plumed 
forests,  until  the  skies  shall  catch  the  glad  sound — ''Lin- 
coln, beyond  the  stars,  and  freedom  inseparable  now  and 
forever."  Thus,  hurled  from  glory  to  glory,  and  from  age 
to  age,  shall  these  words  pass  on  until  the  unsightly  piece 
of  ebony,  quarried  from  the  depths  of  slavery's  pit,  shall 
prove  a  priceless  jewel  gleaming  in  the  diadem  of  humanity. 

A,  M.  E,  Review, 


EMANCIPA  TION  DA  V. 


255 


FREEDOM'S  NATAL  DAY— WHAT  HAS  BEEN 
ACHIEVED  AND  WHAT  REMAINS  TO  BE 
DONE.* 

Through  fire  and  blood  freedom  and  citizenship  came 
to  us.  The  conflict  was  waged  for  the  preservation  of  the 
Union,  but  back  of  all  of  that  were  the  prayers,  the  tears, 
and  the  heart  throbs  of  the  millions  in  the  bonds  of  chattel 
slavery.  We  stand  to-day  in  the  presence  of  the  American 
people,  and  with  uncovered  heads  before  the  statue  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  to  celebrate  the  emancipation  from 
slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  This  occasion  should 
be  a  suggestive  one  to  us.  We  should  realize  that  awful 
grandeur  in  the  responsibility  of  American  citizenship,  and 
we  should  read  our  duty  on  the  starry  firmament  of  the  old 
flag.  This  is  our  country,  our  home.  We  know  no  cause 
but  the  American  cause  ;  no  flag  but  the  American  flag  ! 
Let  others  appeal  to  England  and  the  nations  of  the  earth, 
but  our  appeal  is  to  the  American  people  and  to  their  sense 
of  fair  play. 

It  is  a  fact  well  known  to  history  that  no  race  of  people 
has  ever  had  full  and  equal  justice  accorded  them  when  the 
law  has  been  administered  wholly  by  another  race.  Espe- 
cially is  this  true  when  that  other  race  is  in  any  way  antago- 
nistic to  them.  Legislative  enactments  amount  to  nothing 
before  a  hostile  court.  All  of  the  reconstruction  measures 
have  been  swept  away  like  chaff  before  the  wind,  Not  by 
legislative  enactments,  however,  but  by  judicial  mandate. 
Only  the  XIII.,  XIV.,  and  XV.  amendments  to  the  Consti- 
tution now  remain  as  monuments  of  legislation  growing 
out  of  the  results  of  the  late  Civil  War,  and  these  are  in 
part  a  unity. 

Keeping  our  faces  turned  to  the  future  we  must  take 
sides  upon  the  questions  which  present  themselves  to  the 
American  people.  We  must  understand  so  as  to  handle 
intelligently  the  questions  of  "  finance,'*  of   "  land,"   and 

*  From  Anniversary  Address  in  Washington,  D.  C,  by  Jesse  Lawson. 


256 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


"  labor,"  for  as  we  help  to  solve  these  questions  our  own 
race  problem  will  disappear  and  be  forgotten.  The  press- 
ing needs  of  the  race  at  the  present  time  are  business 
education  and  industrial  opportunity.  The  one  we  must 
attain,  the  other  we  must  make. 


THE  FUTURE  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

The  great  colored  population  is  largely  confined  to  the 
seven  Southern  States  lying  below  a  line  drawn  from  the 
northern  border  of  Delaware  to  the  northeastern  corner  of 
Kansas  and  south  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  There  are  now 
over  six  millions  of  black  men  in  the  country  ;  nearly  four 
millions  in  the  Atlantic  and  Gulf  States  ;  and,  according  to 
the  present  laws  of  increase,  although  every  year  conditions 
are  becoming  more  favorable  for  this  hitherto  oppressed 
people,  they  will  reach  in  1920  nearly  fifteen  millions,  and 
by  the  opening  of  the  next  century  from  now — 1984 — they 
will  have  increased  to  the  enormous  population  of  about 
one  hundred  and  twenty  millions — over  three  times  the 
present  census  of  the  country.  The  present  white  popula- 
tion of  this  lower  tier  of  States  is  about  four  millions. 
According  to  the  estimated  laws  of  increase,  in  1984  it  will 
only  have  reached  some  thirty  millions — about  one-fourth  of 
the  negro  population  at  that  time. 

The  States  where  the  colored  people  now  live — and  they 
have  a  strong  attachment  to  their  homes— are  adapted  to 
them  every  way,  as  to  climate,  forms  of  labor,  and  oppor- 
tunities to  secure  subsistence.  There  is  little  tendency  to 
migrate  to  other  States,  except  farther  South,  or  to  a 
foreign  country.  Under  the  terrors  of  a  Ku-Klux  persecu- 
tion and  the  absolute  impossibility  of  securing  defense  or 
justice  from  the  courts,  a  few  thousands  found  their  way, 
some  years  since,  into  Kansas  and  the  surrounding  States. 
But  the  sufferings  of  the  flight,  and  the  hard  fortunes  that 
followed  attempts  to  enter  upon  new  forms  of  industry  in  a 
harsher  climate,  with  the  partial  mitigation  of  the  abuses 


EMANCIPA  TION  DA  V. 


257 


experienced  in  their  old  homes,  soon  put  a  stop  to  this 
hegira.  It  is  a  somewhat  singular  fact  that  the  colored  man, 
now  that  the  gates  are  wide  open,  does  not  seem  to  hasten 
to  the  North  as  during  the  period  of  his  bondage.  He  is 
not  pushing  into  our  cities  to  compete,  with  the  foreign 
emigration  pouring  in  upon  us,  for  opportunities  for  labor. 
In  the  great  call  for  female  servants  we  are  still  left  to 
Ireland,  the  Scandinavians,  and  our  Canadian  neighbors. 
It  has  been  discovered  that  our  climate  is  too  harsh  for 
them,  and  they  readily  sink  into  consumption  under  it. 
They  are  the  children  of  the  sun,  and  take  readily  to  the 
cultivation  of  the  products  of  a  warmer  zone.  There  will 
always  be  enterprising  young  people  of  both  sexes  who  will 
push  out  from  their  homes,  seek  Northern  schools,  oppor- 
tunities for  making  their  fortunes,  and  will  make  their 
homes  in  this  part  of  the  country  and  on  the  other  side  of 
the  Atlantic  ;  but  the  great  body  will  remain  in  their  native 
States.  Frederick  Douglas  well  says,  referring  to  the  fact : 
"  Dust  will  fly,  but  the  earth  will  remain." 

It  is  much  more  likely  that  the  wealthier  portion  of  the 
white  population  will,  as  the  years  roll  on,  change  their 
homes.  The  men  that  work  will  ultimately  possess  the 
property.  It  will  be  slow  work,  but  whether  the  National 
Government  bestows  its  millions  to  destroy  this  perilous 
illiteracy  of  the  South,  or  not,  the  black  men  will  be  gradu- 
ally educated  and  elevated.  Their  schools  will  be  rapidly 
increased.  Already  they  are  enjoying  a  better  trained 
ministry.  They  are  making  money  and  building  for  them- 
selves decent  residences.  Their  elevation  is  inevitable. 
Money  will  demand  and  command  civilizing  and  cultivating 
appliances.  Wealth,  education,  and  culture  will  necessarily 
enforce  respect. 

Contrary  to  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Stevens,  Professor 
Greener  of  Harvard  University,  a  Harvard  graduate, 
wearing  himself  Saxon  features,  and  of  a  light  shade  of 
color,  and  others  with  him,  do  not  believe  the  races  will 
largely  intermarry.     In  their  estimation  the  present  mulatto 


258 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


— the  terrible  symbol  of  the  moral  corruption  of  slavery — 
will  gradually  die  out.  The  educated  negro  will  be  as  little 
disposed  to  marry  out  of  his  color  as  the  white.  There  will 
be  exceptions,  especially  among  the  ignorant  and  vicious, 
and  there  will  be  fewer  instances  among  the  cultivated, 
where  high  intellectual  qualities  will  trample  under  foot  all 
race  peculiarities.  But  these  instances,  with  the  increase 
of  mental  development  and  training,  will  become  rarer. 
The  black  man  will  not  be  faded  out  by  miscegenation. 
The  fate  of  the  Indian,  and  the  supposed  fate  of  all  weaker 
races  in  the  presence  of  the  stronger,  will  not  be  the  for- 
tune of  the  American  negro.  He  has  his  great  defense 
already  in  his  hand.  He  is  the  peer  at  the  ballot-box  and 
in  the  courts  of  his  white  fellow-citizen.  For  the  present, 
through  his  ignorance,  he  is  made  his  tool,  or  is  wronged 
out  of  his  rights.  He  may  make  merchandise  of  his  right 
of  suffrage  for  a  while  ;  but  it  is  his,  and  every  year  he 
will  come  to  have  a  higher  conception  of  its  significance. 
In  the  competition  of  parties  his  natural  and  acquired 
rights  will  be  respected.  As  he  becomes  sufficiently  edu- 
cated to  understand  his  position  and  the  power  his  numbers 
give  him,  there  may  be  more  danger  of  his  crowding  the 
white  man  in  the  Gulf  States  than  of  his  being  crowded 
himself.  His  color,  simply  as  color,  is  no  offense  at  the 
South.  The  white  children  have  been  brought  up  on  dusky 
bosoms  and  love  them.  It  is  caste  that  alone  creates 
an  offense,  and  this  is  unchristian  and  must  die  out,  as  will 
every  other  indignity  to  humanity  and  to  God.  The  black 
man,  wearing  his  unfaded  and  God-given  badge  of  race, 
equally  cultivated,  equally  rich  and  self-possessed,  will  live 
beside  his  white  neighbor  and  enjoy  the  opportunities  and 
bounties  of  a  common  heaven  equally  with,  his  Saxon  fel- 
low-citizen, both  alike  unsconscious  of  the  different  livery 
each  one  wears.  This  condition  of  things  is  seen  in  all 
portions  of  Europe,  and  will,  ere  long,  be  witnessed  on 
American  soil. 

North  American  Review, 


kM A  NCI  PA  TION  DA  V. 


259 


THE  PROGRESS  OF  THE  FRANCHISE. 

HENRY   WARD   BEECHER. 

Let  me  call  your  attention  to  some  of  the  elements  of 
growth  that  have  taken  place  in  this  nation.  I  was  one  of 
those  whose  courage  never  failed  except  in  spots.  Before 
the  War  I  did  have  some  dark  days,  in  which  I  felt  as  though 
this  nation  was  going  to  be  raised  up  merely  to  be  the 
manure  of  some  after  nation,  being  plowed  under.  It 
seemed  to  me  as  though  all  the  avenues  of  power  were  in 
the  hands  of  despotism  ;  as  though  a  great  part  of  humanity 
was  trodden  under  foot ;  as  though  every  element  that  could 
secure  to  despotism  a  continuance  of  its  power  had  been 
seized  and  sealed  ;  and  I  did  not  see  any  way  out— God 
forgive  me  ;  but  those  very  steps  which  made  the  power 
and  despotism  of  slavery  dangerous  were  in  the  end  its 
remedy  and  its  destruction. 

In  the  beginning  of  our  history  no  man  could  vote  who 
was  not  a  member  of  the  church  ;  and,  by  the  way,  the 
deacons,  to  relieve  the  church  members  from  the  trouble  of 
calling  at  the  ballot-boxes,  took  their  hats  and  went  around 
and  collected  the  votes  from  house  to  house  ;  but  deacons 
in  those  days  were  trustworthy.  After  a  little  a  man  was 
allowed  to  vote,  though  he  did  not  belong  to  the  church,  if 
he  was  a  white  man  and  owned  property  to  a  certain 
amount,  and  that  was  the  first  step  in  augmentation  of 
suffrage  and  the  widening  of  its  distribution. 

After  a  time  it  became  necessary  to  knock  down  even 
that  exception.  Franklin  labored  with  might  and  main  to 
this  end,  and  employed  that  significant  argument  :  *'  If  a 
man  may  not  vote  unless  he  is  a  property-holder  to  the 
amount  of  one  hundred  dollars,  and  he  owns  an  ass  that  is 
worth  just  a  hundred  dollars,  and  to-day  the  ass  is  well  and 
the  man  votes,  but  to-morrow  the  ass  dies,  and  he  cannot 
vote— which  votes,  the  ass  or  the  man  ?  "  The  property 
qualification  disappeared  before  the  democratic  wave,  which 
washed  it  all  away. 


f 


260 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASWK. 


Then  came  the  question   of  foreigners'  voting      They 
were  not  allowed  to  vote  except  upon  long  probation.     Like 
many  of  your  fences,  one  rail  after  another  fell  down,  until 
the  fence  that  at  first  was  so  high  that  it  could  not  be 
jumped,  became  so  low  that  anything  could  jump  it  that 
wanted  to  ;  and  in  New  York  now  they  jump  it  quite  easily 
But  the  day  is  coming,  and  I  hope  very  soon,  when  this 
pretense  of  limitation  will  itself  be  taken  away,  and  every 
man  that  means  in  good  faith  to  settle  here  shall  have  it 
proclaimed  to  him,  the  moment  he  stands  here,  "  You  are 
not  to  partake  of  the  protection  of  our  laws  without  bear- 
ing your  own  personal  responsibility  for  the  execution  of 
those  laws."     I  would  make  every  man  vote  the  moment  he 
touches  the  soil  of  this  country. 

The  next  step  to  this  was  the  admission  of  the  colored 
man  to  the  franchise.     This  was  the  boldest  thing  that 
ever  was  done.     It   is  said   that  it   was  a  war  measure 
it  was  necessarily  so  connected  with  the  War  as  to  come 
under  that  general  designation  ;  and  I   aver  that  no  land 
ever,  even  in  war,  did  so  brave  and  bold  a  thing  as  to  take 
from  the  plantation  a  million  black  men  who  could  not 
read  the  Constitution  or  the  spelling-book,  and  who  could 
hardly  tell  one  hand  from  the  other,  and  permit  them  to 
vote,  in  the  sublime  faith  that  liberty,  which  makes  a  man 
competent  to  vote,  would  render  him  fit  to  discharge  the 
duties  of  the  voter.     And  I  beg  to  say,  as  I  am  bound  to  say 
that  when  this  one  million  unwashed  black  men  came  to  vote 
though  much  disturbance  occurred-as  much  disturbance 
always   occurs   upon   great   changes-they   proved    them- 
selves worthy  of  the  trust  that  had  been  confided  to  them 
Before  emancipation  the  black  man  was  the  most  docile 
laborer  that  the  world  ever  saw.     During  the  War  when 
he  knew  that   his   liberty  was  the  gage,  when  he  knew  the 
battle  was  to  decide  whether  he  should  or  should  not  be 
free,  although  the  country  for  hundreds  of  miles  was  stripped 
bare  of  able-bodied  white  men,  and   though  property  and 
the  lives  of  the  women  and  children  were  at  the  mercy  of 


EMANCIPA  TION  DA  Y. 


261 


I 


the  slave,  there  never  was  an  instance  of  arson,  or  assassina- 
tion, or  rapine,  or  conspiracy,  and  there  never  was  an 
uprising.  They  stood  still,  conscious  of  their  power,  and 
said,  "  We  will  see  what  God  will  do  for  us."  Such  a 
history  has  no  parallel.  And  since  they  began  to  vote,  I 
beg  leave  to  say,  in  closing  this  subject,  that  they  have 
voted  just  as  wisely  and  patriotically  as  there  late  masters 
did  before  the  emancipation. 

And  now  there  is  but  one  step  more.  We  permit  the 
lame,  the  halt,  and  the  blind  to  go  to  the  ballot-box ;  we 
permit  the  foreigner  and  the  black  man,  the  slave  and  the 
freeman,  to  partake  of  suffrage  ;  there  is  but  one  thing  left 
out  :  and  that  is  the  mother  that  taught  us,  and  the  wife 
that  is  thought  worthy  to  walk  side  by  side  with  us.  It  is 
woman  that  is  put  lower  than  the  slave— lower  than  the 
ignorant  foreigner.  She  is  put  among  the  paupers  and 
the  insane  whom  the  law  will  not  allow  to  vote.  But  the 
days  are  numbered  in  which  this  exclusion  can  take  place. 

Peekskill,  N.  Y. 

WASHINGTON    AND    LINCOLN'S    PART  IN 

EMANCIPATION. 

DR.   GEORGE  T.   ALLEN. 

In  the  struggle  of  1776  the  name  of  Washington  was 
hailed  as  the  synonym  of  all  that  was  grand  and  patriotic 
in  humanity  ;  while  that  of  Benedict  Arnold  fell  on  loathing 
ears  as  the  quintessence  of  all  that  was  disloyal  and  grovel- 
ing. Then  the  whole  nation  believed  that  our  country 
could  never  again  be  cursed  by  the  birth  and  life  in  it  of 
another  such  political  lusus  natures;  but  within  twelve 
months  from  July,  i860,  the  whole  country  was  corrupt 
with  worse  traitors  than  Benedict  Arnold  or  Aaron  Burr. 
When  Arnold  turned  Tory,  and  stole  the  mantle  of  Judas 
Iscariot  to  serve  George  III.  and  the  devil  in,  our  ances- 
tors were  simply  experimenting  in  the  principles  of  civil 
liberty  ;  their  civil  and  political  status  was  then  a  shadow, 


262 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


EMANCIPA  TION  DA  Y. 


not  a  reality.  No  man  then  living  could  declare  they  would 
succeed  in  casting  off  the  yoke  of  England,  and  driving  the 
British  soldiery  and  Hessian  mercenaries  from  the  land  • 
nor  could  human  wisdom  then  predict  that  final  success 
With  them  would  secure  to  the  people  national  and  consti- 
tutional liberty,  or  perpetuate  in  the  New  the  despotisms  of 
the  Old  World.  In  those  days  of  political  darkness  Arnold 
turned  traitor,  fell  from  his  high  estate,  and  was,  -  like  Judas 
damned  to  everlasting  fame,"  and 

Sank  to  the  vile  dust  from  which  he  sprung, 
Unwept,  unhonored,  and  unsung, 

and  patriotism  and  liberty  everywhere  this  day  prolon^rg 
the  loud -Amen!"     The   traitors  of  1861  rebelled  when 
the  work  of  1776  had  incubated  and  become  a  living  reality 
and  God  had  breathed  into  it  the  spirit  of  national  immor' 
tahty— when   the  Union    had  advanced   nearly  a  century 
upon  the  most  glorious  mission  ever  sanctified  to  a  people 
during  which  it  had  been  the  hope  of  oppressed  humanity 
everywhere,  and  a  beacon-light  in  the  path  of  civil  and 
religious  progress  and  of  human  liberty  to  all  the  nations 
of  the  earth.     President  Lincoln,  with  unexampled  success 
labored  manfully  through  more  cares  and  responsibilities 
than  ever  beset  any  other  man  in  America.     God  gifted 
him  with  peculiar  faculties  befitting  the  particular  crisis  of 
his  presidency,  and  his  name  will  be  transmitted  to  posterity 
as  gloriously  as  any  that  honors  the  pages  of  history.     None 
but  the  Saviour  of  man  has  had  a  more  important  mission 
on  earth,  or  filled  his  destiny  better,  than  Abraham   Lin- 
coin.     If  there  be  anything  in  foreordination,  God  predesti- 
nated  him  before  the    foundation  of  the  world  to  be  the 
savior  of  our  country,  and  then  laid  aside  the  materials  for 
his  composition  until  the  time  arrived  for  his  advent  among 
the  sons  of  men.     To  my  mind  his  character  is  as  noble 
his  patriotism  as  lofty,  and  his  mission  as  grand  as  Wash' 
mgton's,  and  his  name  will   descend   through  all  time  as 
sacred  in  the  memory  of  every  true  American.     After  the 


263 


clouds  of  the  late  Rebellion  and  the  smoke  of  battle  will 
have  passed  away  before  the  rising  sunshine  of  national 
unity,  the  ashes  of  Washington  and  Lincoln  will,  in  the 
minds  of  their  countrymen,  be  mingled  and  consecrated  in 
the  same  urn,  their  histories  recorded  on  the  same  tablet, 
and  their  spirits  associated  in  the  same  blessed  eternity. 

Abraham  Lincoln's  name  is  now  as  immortal  as  if  Gabriel 
had  dipped  his  fingers  in  the  sunbeam,  and  written  it  in 
letters  of  living  light  across  the  cerulean  arch  of  heaven. 
There  are  miracles  of  war  as  well  as  of  peace.  In  so  wide 
a  land  as  ours,  longitudinally  as  well  as  latitudinally,  with 
all  its  diversities  of  climate,  interests,  and  prejudices,  some 
have  fancied  the  ties  that  bound  the  States  in  one  a  mere 
rope  of  sand  ;  but  the  attack,  even  of  a  domestic  foe,  on 
our  flag  drew  from  the  avocations  of  peace  five  hundred 
thousand  armed  patriots  into  the  field  with  all  the  imple- 
ments of  warfare. 

At  the  close  of  the  Rebellion  the  nation  was  summoned 
to  witness  the  mingling  of  the  blood  of  our  noblest  patriot, 
Abraham  Lincoln,  with  that  of  all  the  immortal  victims 
who  had  preceded  him  through  mortal  struggle  and  agonies 
to  an  eternal  oasis  of  glory.  Over  the  grave  of  slavery  the 
world  now  consecrates  the  mingled  sacrifice — a  sacred 
ovation  to  liberty. 

How  sleep  the  brave  who  sink  to  rest, 
By  all  their  country's  wishes  blest  ! 
When  Spring,  with  dewy  fingers  cold. 
Returns  to  deck  their  hallowed  mold, 
She  there  shall  dress  a  sweeter  sod 
Than  Fancy's  feet  have  ever  trod. 
By  fairy  hands  their  knell  is  rung ; 
By  forms  unseen  their  dirge  is  sung; 
There  Honor  comes,  a  pilgrim  gray, 
To  bless  the  turf  that  wraps  their  clay, 
And  Freedom  shall  awhile  repair, 
To  dwell,  a  weeping  hermit,  there. 

Springfield,  III. 


264 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION. 


THE    RESULTS   ACHIEVED  BY  THE    SOLDIERS 

AND    SAILORS. 

E.  E.    WILLIAMSON. 

The  great  results  which  were  achieved  by  our  soldiers 
and  sailors  can  hardly  be  calculated  or  appreciated.  As  an 
incident  of  the  strife,  four  millions  of  human  beings  became 
free.  Those  whom  God  in  his  mysterious  providence  has 
caused  to  come  into  being  with  a  darker  color  than  our  own 
were  ushered  into  the  broad  sunlight  of  American  freedom. 
The  institution  which  had  been  the  **bone  of  contention  " 
between  the  various  sections  of  our  country  for  nearly  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years,  which  had  neutralized  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence  which  Jefferson  drew  with  his  own 
hand,  which  had  culminated  in  the  Rebellion,  perished  by  its 
own  act.  The  Dred  Scott  decision  and  the  fugitive  slave 
laws  vanished  with  the  barbarous  code. 

Horace  Mann,  who  once  occupied  the  position  which  was 
made  vacant  by  the  death  of  that  illustrious  man  John 
Quincy  Adams,  said  on  one  occasion,  *'  Is  Massachusetts 
any  more  worth  living  in  than  it  was?"  Is  there  to  be  a 
time  when  I  can  speak  of  it  without  blushing?  But  to-day, 
Massachusetts,  and  the  whole  of  the  American  republic, 
from  the  border  of  Maine  to  the  Pacific  slopes,  and  from 
the  Lakes  to  the  Gulf,  stand  upon  the  immutable  and  ever- 
lasting principles  of  equal  and  exact  justice.  The  days  of 
unrequited  labor  are  numbered  with  the  past.  Fugitive 
slave  laws  are  only  remembered  as  relics  of  that  barbarism 
which  John  Wesley  pronounced  **  the  sum  of  all  villainies," 
and  whose  knowledge  of  its  blighting  effects  was  matured 
by  his  travels  in  Georgia  and  the  Carolinas. 

If  Horace  Mann  could  speak  to  us  at  this  hour,  he  would 
say  that  Massachusetts  is  worth  living  in  ;  that  the  nation 
has  entered  on  a  new  era  of  enlightenment,  because  efforts 
were  made  to  establish  a  confederacy  whose  corner  stone 
should  be  slavery  ;  and  because  the  heroism  of  the  soldiers 


EMANCIPA  TtON  DA  Y, 


265 


and  sailors,  at  whose  graves  we  bow  on  this  day  of  conse- 
cration, fought  and  bled  that  the  wicked  scheme  might  not 
be  consummated.  Not  only  does  the  American  continent 
feel  the  quickening  power  of  this  great  achievement,  but 
the  Old  World,  the  land  of  Wilberforce,  of  Father  Mathew 
and  Schiller,  of  Lafayette,  and  those  great  minds  which 
lightened  and  alleviated  the  despotism  of  other  days,  have 
received  an  impetus,  the  beneficence  of  which  will  be  last- 
ing as  the  world  itself. 
Marblehead,  Mass. 


THE  RIGHTS  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

JOHN   SWINTON. 

"  What  shall  we  do  with  the  negro  ?  "  Shall  we  not 
help  him  to  yet  advance  along  the  lines  of  freedom,  educa- 
tion, industry,  and  prosperity  upon  which  he  has  been 
steadily  advancing  for  a  century?  He  has  grown,  he  is 
growing,  he  will  grow  through  the  years,  if  the  right  of 
growth  be  not  denied  him. 

When  I  recall  the  negro  as  I  knew  him  during  the  exist- 
ence of  slavery,  in  the  Carolinas,  in  the  States  of  the  Gulf, 
and  in  those  along  the  Mississippi — when  I  behold  the 
improvement  that  has  been  brought  about  in  his  being  and 
condition  since  his  liberation — I  feel  bound  to  say  that  he 
is  doing  as  well  as  could  be  expected,  and  to  express  the 
opinion  that  he  will  do  yet  better  under  a  larger  liberty. 
He  has  been  transformed  within  a  generation,  and  the 
work  of  transformation  will  go  on  steadily,  if  it  be  not 
impeded. 

**What  shall  we  do  with  him?"  I  see  no  reason  to 
believe  that  he  will  go  to  Liberia,  or  to  Mexico,  to  British 
Honduras,  or  to  any  other  country  beyond  that  of  his 
nativity.  Yet  if  I  were  of  his  race  I  would  fly  from  any 
part  of  the  South  in  which  the  franchises  of  mankind  can- 
not be  enjoyed. 


266 


THOUGHTS  TOR   THE  OCCASION'. 


EM  A  NCI  PA  TION  DA  Y. 


267 


It  is  grievous  to  know  that  the  negro  does  not  possess 
his  natural  or  his  constitutional  rights  in  some  of  the 
Southern  States.  It  is  inexpressibly  horrifying  to  me,  as 
a  Christian  or  as  a  believer  in  the  commonwealth,  to  read 
the  ever- recurring  reports  of  the  torturing  and  lynching  of 
colored  people  in  sundry  States  of  the  South.  But  of  these 
wrongs  I  speak  not  here. 

The  very  best  thing  we  can  do  for  the  black  man,  or  for 
the  white,  is  to  strive  with  all  our  might  to  promote  and 
secure  the  establishment  of  his  inalienable  rights. 


THE   RELIGION    OF   THE    NEGROES. 

p.   PASTOR  HOOD. 

One  of  the  great  redeeming  features  of  the  negro  race 
is  their  firm  belief  in  what  might  be  called  the  cardinal 
doctrines  of  Christianity,  and  we  are  free  to  say  that  in 
none  of  their  errors  do  they  go  to  the  extent  of  the  blind 
adherents  to  Romanism,  even  among  the  more  enlightened 
Papists.  He  may  act  sometimes  by  his  loud  boisterousness 
as  if  he  thought  God  was  asleep  or  gone  on  a  journey,  but 
he  always  believes  he  has  the  right  to  approach  him  for 
himself.  Where  among  the  negro  religionists  will  you  find 
any  false  theology  which  offers  a  prayer  for  the  dead,  or  the 
belief  in  a  purgatory,  or  anything  that  questions  the  com- 
pleteness of  the  Holy  Scriptures  ?  In  all  the  negro  super- 
stition and  ignorance  you  will  find  no  parallel  for  such 
unsound  and  unscriptural  tenets  as  are  held  by  the  most 
ignorant  Papists  in  Roman  Catholic  countries.  In  what 
condition  are  these  most  ignorant  Papists  of  other  countries 
found  ?  Many  of  them  desperadoes,  beggars,  highwaymen, 
and  in  this  country  they  form  the  most  dangerous  elements 
of  society,  and  much  of  this  condition  is  the  result  of  such 
belief  as  we  have  quoted.  The  negro  believes  implicitly  in 
the  Bible,  and  consequently  in  a  personal  God  and  a  real 
devil,  and  a  hell  (not  a  sheol  nor  a  hades),  and  a  heaven, 


flowing  with  milk  and  honey.  He  has  an  absolute  faith  in 
a  personal  Saviour  who,  only,  has  power  on  earth  to  forgive 
sin,  and  in  a  Holy  Spirit  upon  whom  he  relies  as  the  witness 
with  his  spirit  that  he  is  a  child  of  God. 

The  only  written  theology  of  the  negro  is  found  in  the 
plantation  melodies  ;  what  are  they  but  the  plaintive  strains 
of  weeping  faith  which  came  from  hearts  in  vital  union  with 

God? 

Whence  that  yearning  desire  of  the  race  found  every- 
where, to  become  more  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the 
Word  of  God— that  superstitious  reverence  for  everything 
divine,  and  that  unswerving  faith  that  made  us  bear  with 
patience  our  sorrows,  and  for  two  hundred  years  call  only 
on  God,  till  we  stand  before  the  world  as  a  living  example 
of  fortitude  and  endurance.  Whence  this  patience?  It 
must  be  attributed  to  something  higher  than  fear.  But  do 
these  beliefs  produce  the  practical  effects  commensurate 
with  the  tenacity  with  which  they  are  held  ?  No,  but  they 
produce  effects  far  beyond  Romanism  or  Buddhism,  and 
the  errors  are  far  less  destructive. 

In  all  these  ignorant  communities  you  find  a  class  of 
people  striving  hard  to  stem  the  current  of  immorality. 
During  the  darkest  days  of  slavery  on  every  plantation 
there  were  Christian  negroes  who  could  be  trusted  any- 
where and  with  anything,  so  much  so  that  when  the  war 
came  their  masters  felt  free  to  go  to  the  front  and  leave 
their  treasures,  their  wives,  their  daughters  and  helpless 
children  in  the  absolute  care  and  protection  of  these 
negroes,  and  their  trust  was  not  betrayed.  To-day  you 
will  find  in  these  black  belts  the  most  honorable  marriages, 
and  the  tie  in  many  cases  sacredly  kept,  churches  disci- 
plining members  for  immoralities,  and  ministers,  ignorant 
men,  giving  their  trumpet  no  uncertain  sound  upon  these 
great  principles. 

It  would  not  be  better  if  we  were  given  over  to  some 
form  of  idolatry.  The  thousands  who  have  died  with  an 
unshaken  faith  in  Christ  disprove  this  ;  the  fortitude  and 


268 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


EMANCIPA  TION  DA  V. 


269 


patience  with  which  we  have  borne  what  no  other  people 
have,  with  even  our  erroneous  Christian  beHefs  as  our 
only  staff,  disprove  it ;  and  the  thousands  of  old  negroes 
to-day  who  see  they  must  perish  in  their  present  condition, 
but  from  the  little  light  they  have  are  striving  every  way 
they  know  to  give  their  children  a  clearer  idea  of  the 
truth,  disprove  it. 

It  is  not  enough  to  come  in  contact  with  the  negro  as 
the  owner  of  a  plantation  to  form  an  idea  of  his  religion. 
I  have  gone  from  church  to  church  in  this  black  belt  as  an 
humble  missionary  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  come 
in  contact  with  my  people  as  the  tutor  of  their  children  in 
day  and  Sabbath  school,  and  my  experience  has  been  that 
of  many  other  negro  missionaries,  my  people  have  hailed 
us  as  messengers  of  light. 

Preshyteriafi  Journal. 

THE  ABOLITION  OF  SLAVERY. 

H.  W.  BEECHER. 

Deadly  doctrines  have  been  purged  away  in  blood.  The 
subtle  poison  of  secession  was  a  perpetual  threat  of  revo- 
lution. The  sword  has  ended  that  danger.  That  which 
reason  had  affirmed  as  a  philosopher  the  people  have 
settled  as  a  fact.  Theory  pronounces,  *'  There  can  be  no 
permanent  government  where  each  integral  particle  has 
liberty  to  fly  off."  Who  would  venture  upon  a  voyage  on 
a  ship  each  plank  and  timber  of  which  might  withdraw  at 
its  pleasure  ?  But  the  people  have  reasoned  by  the  logic  of 
the  sword  and  of  the  ballot,  and  they  have  declared  that 
States  are  inseparable  parts  of  national  government.  They 
are  not  sovereign.  State  rights  remain  ;  but  sovereignty  is 
a  right  higher  than  all  others  ;  and  that  has  been  made  into 
a  common  stock  for  the  benefit  of  all.  All  further  agitation 
is  ended.  This  element  must  be  cast  out  of  our  political 
problems.  Henceforth  that  poison  will  not  rankle  in  the 
blood.  .  , 


The  South,  no  longer  a  land  of  plantations,  but  of  farms, 
no  longer  tilled  by  slaves,  but  by  freemen,  will  find  no  hin- 
drance to  the  spread  of  education.  Schools  will  multiply. 
Books  and  papers  will  spread.  Churches  will  bless  every 
hamlet.  There  is  a  good  day  coming  for  the  South. 
Through  darkness  and  tears  and  blood  she  has  sought  it. 
It  has  been  an  unconscious  Via  Dolorosa.  But,  in  the  end, 
it  will  be  worth  all  it  has  cost.  Her  institutions  before  were 
deadly.  She  nourished  death  in  her  bosom.  The  greater 
her  secular  prosperity  the  more  sure  was  her  ruin.  Every 
year  of  delay  but  made  the  change  more  terrible.  Now,  by 
an  earthquake,  the  evil  is  shaken  down.  Her  own  historians 
in  a  better  day  shall  write  that  from  that  day  the  sword  cut 
off  the  cancer  she  began  to  find  her  health.  .  . 

And,  since  free  labor  is  inevitable,  will  you  have  it  in  its 
worst  form  or  its  best  ?  Shall  it  be  ignorant,  impertinent, 
indolent  ?  or  shall  it  be  educated,  self-respecting,  moral, 
and  self-supporting  ?  Will  you  have  men  as  drudges,  or 
will  you  have  them  as  citizens  ?  Since  they  have  vindicated 
the  government,  and  cemented  its  foundation  stones  with 
their  blood,  may  they  not  offer  the  tribute  of  their  support 
to  maintain  its  laws  and  its  policy  ?  It  is  better  for  religion, 
it  is  better  for  political  integrity,  it  is  better  for  industry, 
it  is  better  for  money — if  you  will  have  that  ground  motive — 
that  you  should  educate  the  black  man  ;  and,  by  education, 
make  him  a  citizen.  They  who  refuse  education  to  a  black 
man  would  turn  the  South  into  a  vast  poorhouse,  and  labor 
into  a  pendulum,  necessity  vibrating  between  poverty  and 
indolence. 


EMANCIPATION  DAY. 


WM.   M.    EVARTS. 


The  immense  social  and  political  forces  which  the  exist- 
ence of  slavery  in  this  country  and  the  invincible  repug- 
nance to  it  of  the  vital  principles  of  our  state  together 
generated  have  had  their  play  upon  the  passions  and  the 


270 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


EMANCIPATION  DAY. 


271 


interests  of  this  people,  have  formed  the  basis  of  parties, 
divided  sects,  agitated  and  invigorated  the  popular  mind, 
inspired  the  eloquence,  inflamed  the  zeal,  informed  the 
understandings,  and  fired  the  hearts  of  three  generations. 
At  last  the  dread  debate  escaped  all  bounds  of  reason,  and 
the  nation  in  arms  solved,  by  the  appeal  of  war,  what  was 
too  hard  for  civil  wisdom.  With  our  territory  unmutilated, 
our  constitution  uncorrupted,  a  united  people,  in  the  last 
years  of  the  century,  crowns  with  new  glory  the  immortal 
truths  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  by  the  emanci- 
pation of  a  race. 


FREEDOM'S  HOLY  CAUSE. 

MR.   E.   W.    HAYES. 

Lincoln,  who  for  four  long  years  with  noble  courage 
steered  the  ship  of  state  over  a  raging  sea  ;  whose  eye  was 
ever  watchful  when  dangers  thickened  round,  and  his  hand 
steady  on  the  helm  when  the  night  was  darkest  and  the 
tempest  roared— to  him  the  bondman  ever  looked  with 
confidence  and  hope.  Just  when  the  ship  had  reached  the 
haven  where  Peace  stood  smiling  on  the  shore  then  he 
was  stricken  down  by  treason's  foulest  blow.  He  died  for 
Freedom's  holy  cause, 

That  cause  for  which  we  wave  the  sword  on  high, 
And  swear  with  her  to  live,  for  her  to  die. 
Bunker  Hill,  III. 


A  PEOPLE  EMANCIPATED  BY  DEFEAT. 

H.    W.    GRADY,  ATLANTA,    GA.,  BEFORE    THE    NEW    ENGLAND 

SOCIETY,  NEW  YORK. 

The  shackles  that  had  held  the  South  in  narrow  limita- 
tions  fell  forever  when  the  shackles  of  the  negro  slave  were 
broken.  Under  the  old  regime  the  negroes  were  slaves  to 
the  South,  the  South  was  a  slave  to  the  system.     Thus  was 


I 


gathered  \\\  the  hands  of  a  splendid  and  chivalric  oligarchy 
the  substance  that  should  have  been  diffused  among  the 
people,  as  the  rich  blood  is  gathered  at  the  heart,  filling 
that  with  affluent  rapture,  but  leaving  the  body  chill  and 
colorless. 

The  old  South  rested  everything  on  slavery  and  agricul- 
ture, unconscious  that  these  could  neither  give  nor  maintain 
healthy  growth.  The  new  South  presents  a  perfect  democ- 
racy, the  oligarchs  leading  into  the  popular  movement — a 
social  system  compact  and  closely  knitted,  less  splendid  on 
the  surface,  but  stronger  at  the  core — a  hundred  farms  for 
every  plantation,  fifty  homes  for  every  palace,  and  a  diversi- 
fied industry  that  meets  the  complex  needs  of  this  complex 
age. 

The  new  South  is  enamored  of  her  new  work.  Her  soul 
is  stirred  with  the  breath  of  a  new  life.  The  light  of  a 
grander  day  is  falling  fair  on  her  face.  She  is  thrilling,  sir, 
with  the  consciousness  of  growing  power  and  prosperity. 
As  she  stands  full-statured  and  equal  among  the  peoples  of 
the  earth,  breathing  the  keen  air  and  looking  out  upon  an 
expanding  horizon,  she  understands  that  her  emancipation 
came  because  in  the  inscrutable  wisdom  of  God  her  honest 
purpose  was  crossed  and  her  brave  armies  were  beaten. 
This  is  said  in  no  spirit  of  time-serving  and  apology.  I 
should  be  unjust  to  the  South  if  I  did  not  make  this  plain 
in  this  presence.  The  South  has  nothing  to  take  back  ; 
nothing  for  which  she  has  excuses  to  make.  In  my  native 
town  of  Athens  is  a  monument  that  crowns  its  central  hills — 
a  plain  white  shaft.  Deep  cut  into  its  shining  sides  is  a 
name  dear  to  me  above  the  names  of  men,  that  of  a  brave 
and  simple  man  who  died  in  brave  and  simple  faith.  Not 
for  all  the  glories  of  New  England  from  Plymouth  Rock 
all  the  way  would  I  exchange  the  heritage  he  left  me  in  his 
patriot's  death.  To  the  foot  of  that  shaft  I  shall  send  my 
children's  children  to  reverence  him  who  ennobled  their 
name  with  his  heroic  blood.  But,  sir,  speaking  from  the 
shadow  of  that  memory,  which  I  honor  as  I  do  nothing  else 


9 


272 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


on  earth,  I  say  that  the  cause  in  which  he  suffered  and  for 
which  he  gave  his  life  was  adjudged  by  higher  and  fuller 
wisdom  than  his  or  mine,  and  lam  glad  that  the  omniscient 
God  held  the  balance  of  battle  in  his  almighty  hand  and 
that  the  American  Union  was  saved  from  the  wreck  of  war. 

This  message  comes  to  you  from  consecrated  ground. 
Every  foot  of  the  soil  about  the  city  in  which  I  live  is  sacred 
as  a  battleground  of  the  republic.  Every  hill  that  invests 
it  is  hallowed  to  you  by  the  blood  of  your  brothers  who 
died  foryour  victory,  and  doubly  hallowed  to  us  by  the  blood 
of  those  who  died  hopeless,  but  undaunted  in  defeat- 
sacred  soil  to  all  of  us— rich  with  memories  that  make  us 
purer  and  stronger  and  better— silent  but  stanch  witness  in 
its  rich  desolation  of  the  matchless  valor  of  American  hearts 
and  the  deathless  glory  of  American  arms— speaking  and 
eloquent  witness  in  its  white  peace  and  prosperity  to  the 
indissoluble  Union  of  American  States  and  the  imperishable 
brotherhood  of  the  American  people. 

What  answer  has  New  England  to  this  message  ?     Will 
she  permit  the  prejudice  of  war  to  remain  in  the  hearts  of 
the  conquerors  when  it  has  died  in  the  hearts  of  the  con- 
quered ?     Will    she   transmit   this   prejudice   to   the    next 
generation,  that   in   hearts  which  never  felt  the  generous 
ardor  of  conflict  it  may  perpetuate  itself  ?     Will  she  with- 
hold, save  in  strained  courtesy,  the  hand  which  straight 
from  his  soldier's  heart  Grant  offered  to  Lee  at  Appomattox  ? 
Will  she  make  the  vision  of  a  restored  and  happy  people, 
which  gathered  above  the  couch  of  your  dying  captain, 
filling  his  heart  with  peace,  touching  his  lips  with  praise, 
and  glorifying  his  path  to  the  grave— will  she  make  this 
vision  on  which  the  last  sigh  of  his  expiring  soul  breathed 
a  benediction,  or  cheat   or   delusion  ?      If   she   does  the 
South,  never  abject  in  asking  for  comradeship,  must  accept 
with  dignity  its   refusal.     But   if  she  does  not    refuse  to 
accept  in  frankness  and  sincerity  this  message  of  good  will 
and  friendship,  then  will  the  prophecy  of  Webster  delivered 
to   this   very   society   forty   years   ago   amid    tremendous 


EM  A  NCI  PA  TION  DA  Y, 


273 


applause  be  verified  in  its  fullest  and  final  sense,  when  he 
said  :  "■  Standing  hand  to  hand  and  clasping  hands,  we 
should  remain  united  as  we  have  been  for  sixty  years, 
citizens  of  the  same  country,  members  of  the  same  govern- 
ment, united,  all  united  now  and  united  forever.  There 
have  been  difficulties,  contentions,  and  controversies,  but  I 
tell  you  that  in  my  judgment 

"Those  opposed  eyes, 
Which,  like  the  meteors  of  a  troubled  heaven, 
All  of  one  nature,  of  one  substance  bred, 
Did  lately  meet  in  th'  intestine  shock. 
Shall  now,  in  mutual  well-beseeming  ranks, 
March  all  one  way." 


THE  NEGRO    AND    SOUTHERN    RESTORATION. 

H.   W.     GRADY,    ATLANTA,   GA.,    FROM     ADDRESS    BEFORE     NEW 

ENGLAND   SOCIETY,   NEW   YORK. 

It  is  a  rare  privilege,  to  have  had  part,  however  humble, 
m  this  work.  Never  was  nobler  duty  confided  to  human 
hands  than  the  up-lifting  and  up-building  of  the  prostrate 
and  bleeding  South,  misguided,  perhaps,  but  beautiful  in 
her  suffering  and  honest,  brave,  and  generous  always.  In 
the  record  of  her  social,  industrial,  and  political  restoration 
we  await  with  confidence  the  verdict  of  the  world. 

But  what  of  the  negro  ?  Have  we  solved  the  problem  he 
presents,  or  progressed  in  honor  and  equity  toward  its  solu- 
tion ?  Let  the  record  speak  to  this  point.  No  section 
shows  a  more  prosperous  laboring  population  than  the 
negroes  of  the  South,  none  in  fuller  sympathy  with  the 
employing  and  land  owning  class.  He  shares  our  school 
fund,  has  the  fullest  protection  of  our  laws,  and  the  friend- 
ship of  our  people.  Self-interest  as  well  as  honor  demand 
thiit  he  should  have  this.  Our  future,  our  very  existence 
depend  upon  our  working  out  this  problem  in  full  and  exact 
justice.  We  understand  that  when  Lincoln  signed  the 
Emancipation  Proclamation,  your  victory  was  assured,  for 


274 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


EMANCIPA  TIOiV  DA  Y. 


275 


he  then  committed  you  to  the  cause  of  human  liberty 
against  which  the  arms  of  man  cannot  prevail — while  those 
of  our  statesmen  who  made  slavery  the  corner  stone  of  the 
Confederacy  doomed  us  to  defeat,  committing  us  to  a  cause 
that  reason  could  not  defend,  or  the  sword  maintain,  in  the 
light  of  advancing  civilization.  Had  Mr.  Toombs  said — 
which  he  did  not  say — that  he  would  call  the  roll  of  his 
slaves  at  the  foot  of  Bunker  Hill,  he  would  have  been  fool- 
ish, for  he  might  have  known  that  whenever  slavery  became 
entangled  in  war  it  must  perish,  and  that  the  chattel  in 
human  flesh  ended  forever  in  New  England  when  your 
fathers — not  to  be  blamed  for  parting  with  what  didn't 
pay — sold  their  slaves  to  our  fathers — not  to  be  praised  for 
knowing  a  paying  thing  when  they  saw  it.  The  relations  of 
the  Southern  people  with  the  negro  are  close  and  cordial. 
We  remember  with  what  fidelity  for  four  years  he  guarded 
our  defenseless  women  and  children,  whose  husbands  and 
fathers  were  fighting  against  his  freedom.  To  his  eternal 
credit  be  it  said  that  whenever  he  struck  a  blow  for  his  own 
liberty  he  fought  in  open  battle,  and  when  at  last  he  raised 
his  black  and  humble  hands  that  the  shackles  might  be 
struck  off,  those  hands  were  innocent  of  wrong  against  his 
helpless  charges  and  worthy  to  be  taken  in  loving  grasp  by 
every  man  who  honors  loyalty  and  devotion.  Ruffians  have 
maltreated  him,  rascals  have  misled  him,  philanthropists 
established  a  bank  for  him,  but  the  South,  with  the  North, 
protests  against  injustice  to  this  simple  and  sincere  people. 
To  liberty  and  enfranchisement  is  as  far  as  law  can  carry 
the  negro.  The  rest  must  be  left  to  conscience  and  com- 
mon sense.  It  should  be  left  to  those  among  whom  his  lot 
is  cast,  with  whom  he  is  indissolubly  connected  and  whose 
prosperity  depends  upon  their  possessing  his  intelligent 
sympathy  and  confidence.  Faith  has  been  kept  with  him 
in  spite  of  calumnious  assertions  to  the  contrary,  by  those 
who  assume  to  speak  for  us  or  by  frank  opponents.  F'aith 
will  be  kept  with  him  in  the  future,  if  the  South  holds  her 
reason  and  integrity. 


I 


FREEDOM. 

No  man  is  free  who  is  a  slave  to  the  flesh. 


SENECA. 


None  are  more  hopelessly  enslaved  than  those  who 
falsely  believe  they  are   free. 

GOETHE. 

A  FREEMAN  Contending  for  liberty  on  his  own  ground  is 
superior  to  any  slavish  mercenary  on  earth. 

WASHINGTON. 

The  ends  for  which  men  unite  in  society  and  submit  to 
government  are  to  enjoy  security  in  their  property,  and 
freedom  in  their  persons  from  all  injustice  and  violence. 

H.    BLAIR. 

Free  speech  is  to  a  great  people  what  winds  are  to 
oceans  and  malarial  regions,  which  waft  away  the  elements 
of  disease  and  bring  new  elements  of  health  ;  and  where 
free  speech  is  stopped,  miasma  is  bred,  and  death  comes 
fast. 

H.    W.    BEECHER. 

It  remains  with  you,  then,  to  decide  whether  that  free- 
dom at  whose  voice  the  kingdoms  of  Europe  awoke  from 
the  sleep  of  ages,  to  run  a  career  of  virtuous  emulation  in 
everything  great  and  good  ;  the  freedom  which  dispelled 
the  mists  of  superstition  and  invited  the  nations  to 
behold  their  God  ;  whose  magic  touch  kindled  the  rays  of 
genius,  the  enthusiasm  of  poetry  and  the  flame  of  eloquence  ; 
the  freedom  which  poured  into  our  lap  opulence  and  arts, 
and  embellished  life  with  innumerable  institutions^  and 
improvements  till  it  became  a  theater  of  wonders  ;  it  is  for 
you  to  decide  whether  this  freedom  shall  yet  survive,  or  be 
covered  with  a  funeral  pall  and  wrapped  in  eternal  gloom. 

R.    HALL. 


FLAG-RAISING  DAY. 


••  It  still  Waves." 


"Forever  Float  that  Standard  Sheet." 


Historical. — The  first  recognition  of  a  clay  as  Flag-raising  Day 
was,  June  14,  1894,  by  order  of  the  Governor  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  at  the  request  of  the  "  Sons  of  the  Revolution  "  that  the 
National  flag  be  hoisted  on  the  public  buildings  of  the  Stateon  the 
117th  anniversary  of  its  adoption  by  Congress,  June  14,  1777.  In 
Philadelpliia  the  same  day  was  observed  at  the  request  of  the 
"  Colonial  Dames  of  America."  The  history  of  the  American  flag 
will  be  made  clearer  if  treated  under  three  divisions,  viz.,  The 
Early  Flags  of  America,  The  Colonial  Flags,  and  the  National 
Stars  and  Stripes. 

The  Early  Flags  of  America.— The  first  flag  unfurled 
was  the  Spanish  ensign,  with  the  arms  of  Castile  and  Leon,  borne 
by  Columbus  together  with  his  expedition  flag  in  1492. 

When  John  Cabot  came  over  in  1497  he  brought  the  English 
Flag,  or  St.  George's  cross,  a  white  flag  with  a  rectangular  red 
cross  extending  the  entire  length  and  breadth  of  the  banner. 
This  was  probably  the  only  flag  during  the  sixteenth  century 
planted  on  territory  now  belonging  to  the  United  States. 

When  the  Mayfloiver  sailed  from  England  she  wore  the  cross 
of  St.  George  as  a  secondary  banner,  and  carried  the  British 
National  Standard  at  masthead.  This  was  the  "  King's  Colors," 
often  spoken  of  as  the  Union  Jack,  a  combination  of  the  cross  of 
St.  George,  and  the  cross  of  St.  Andrew  or  Scotch  Standard. 

In  165 1,  the  English  Parliament  changed  this  Union  Flag  to  the 
cross  of  St.  George,  or  as  it  had  been  before  the  union  of  the 
English  and  Scotch  banners ;  and  the  General  Court  of  Massachu- 
setts followed  suit  by  adopting  the  same  flag  for  the  standard  of 
the  Colonies. 

In  1707,  Parliament  re-adopted  the  Union  Flag;  and  this,  with 
many  modifications,  was  used  by  all  the  English  Colonies  in 
America  from  that  time  until  the  adoption  of  the  Stars  and 
Stripes. 

When  Hendrick  Hudson  first  explored  the  river  which  has  ever 
§ince  borne  his  name,  he  carried  the  Dutch  ensign,  a  flag  of  three 
equally  wide  longitudinal  stripes  of  orange,  white,  and  blue.  In 
1650,  the  orange  stripe  was  changed  to  red  ;  and  this  combination 
of  colors,  red,  white,  and  blue,  eventually  became  the  fundamental 
design  of  the  glorious  "  flag  of  the  free." 

The  Massachusetts  Council  in  1776  adopted  as  a  standard  a 
white  flag  with  a  green  pine  tree  and  the  inscription,  "  An  Appeal 
to  Heaven."  A  flag  like  this,  once  belonging  to  a  military  com- 
pany of  Newburyport,  is  now  in  the  museum  of  Independence  Hall, 
Philadelphia. 

Often  seen  in  connection  with   the   Pine  Tree  Flag,  was  the 


«79 


28o 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


Rattlesnake  Flag,  said  to  have  originated  from  a  picture  pub- 
lished by  Dr.  Franklin  in  1754,  the  interpretation  being  this  :  The 
colonies  were  in  their  contests  with  the  Indians  acting  with  only 
partial  co-operation.  Franklin,  wishing  to  impress  upon  the  people 
the  need  of  union,  made  an  engraving  of  a  curved  rattlesnake 
divided  into  several  parts,  each  bearing  a  name.  The  head  was 
New  England;  the  other  colonies  represented  the  remaining 
divisions.  Under  this  device  was  the  suggestive  motto,  "  Unite 
or  Die."  Other  similar  emblems  had  the  motto,  "Don't  Tread 
on  Me." 

Colonial  Flags.— The  Colonial  Congress  in  1775  appointed 
Messrs.  Franklin,  Lynch,  and  Harrison  a  committee  to  prepare  a 
design  for  a  Colonial  flag.  George  Washington  was  then  in 
camp  m  Cambridge,  Mass.,  where  this  committee  went  to  consult 
hun  concerning  the  important  work.  During  their  stay  they  were 
entertained  at  the  house  of  a  patriotic  citizen,  where  boarded  a 
professor  who  proved  a  very  important  assistant  in  desijrninfr 
the  flag.  ^      ^ 

December  13,  when  they  met  for  dinner,  the  party  consisted  of 
Washmgton,  the  three  committeemen,  the  professor,  the  host,  and 
hostess.  The  conversation  drifted  upon  the  work  of  the  committee. 
The  professor  and  the  hostess  talked  intelligently  upon  the  subject,* 
and  before  the  meal  was  over  they  were  added  to  the  committee 
who  met  the  same  evening  and  discussed  the  vital  question.  They 
arrived  at  the  conclusion  "  that  the  flag  must  be  one  which  will 
now  recognize  our  loyalty  to  Great  Britain,  and  at  the  same  time 
announce  our  earnest  and  united  suit  and  demand  for  our  rights 
as  British  subjects."  The  professor  said  :  "  The  field  of  this  flag 
must  be  entirely  new,  because  first,  it  will  soon  represent  a  new 
nation  ;  second,  because  it  will  represent  a  new  principle  in  govern- 
ment—the equal  rights  of  man  as  man." 

The  design  that  this  committee  presented  had  a  field  composed 
of  thirteen  equally  wide,  longitudinal,  alternate  red  and  white 
stripes,  with  the  Union  Flag  of  England  for  a  union;  this  became 
the  recognized  standard  of  the  Colonial  army  and  navy. 

A  full-sized  garrison  flag  was  quickly  made,  the  exact  counter- 
part of  the  plan  offered  by  the  committee,  and  was  flung  to  the 
breeze  with  appropriate  ceremonies  by  General  Washington  and 
staff,  January  12,  1776,  at  Cambridge,  in  presence  of  his  army,  the 
V  ranklin  committee,  and  citizens. 

The  proceedings  were  watched  by  the  British  officers  on  Charles- 
town  Heights,  and  through  their  field  glasses  they  discerned  the 
details  of  the  design.  Recognizing  the  cross  of  St.  George,  they 
said,  It  is  thoroughly  English,  you  know,"  and  hastily  concluded 
tnat  General  Washington  thus  announced  his  surrender,  and  with 
great  enthusiasm  greeted  the  thirteen  stripes  with  thirteen  cheers 
followed  by  the  more  dignified  salute  of  thirteen  guns.  Although 
umntentional,  it  was  really  its  official  recognition  by  its  enemies. 


FLAG-RAISING  DAY. 


281 


and  may  now  be  looked  back  upon  almost  as  a  prophecy  of  the 
result  of  the  struggle. 

The  Declaration  of  Independence,  signed  July  4,  1776,  changed 
the  British  Colonies  into  Independent  States.  The  Colonial  flag 
thus  became  the  standard  of  the  thirteen  New  and  Independent 
States. 

The  National  Stars  and  Stripes.— In  June,  1777,  a  com- 
mittee having  been  appointed  by  Congress  to  confer  with  General 
Washington  concerning  a  design  for  a  National  flag,  reported 
in  favor  of  a  flag  containing  thirteen  stripes,  alternately  red  and 
white,  and  a  blue  field  adorned  with  thirteen  white  stars.  This 
was  adopted  June  14,  and  the  design  was  carried  to  the  upholster- 
ing shop  of  Mrs.  Ross,  No.  239  Arch  Street,  Philadelphia,  where 
the  first  national  flag  was  made.  The  original  design  required 
six-pointed  stars,  but  upon  Mrs.  Ross'  suggestion,  that  five- 
pointed  stars  would  be  more  symmetrical,  the  pattern  was  changed. 
This  lady  was  afterward  given  the  position  of  manufacturer  of 
government  flags,  which  occupation  upon  her  death  was  retained 
by  her  children.  The  Stars  and  Stripes  were  first  unfurled  at  the 
battle  of  Saratoga  upon  the  occasion  of  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne. 
By  an  act  of  Congress,  January  13,  1794,  the  design  was  changed 
so  as  to  incorporate  fifteen  stars  and  fifteen  stripes,  and  one  star 
was  to  be  added  for  every  subsequent  State  admitted.  This,  how- 
ever, was  repealed  in  181 8,  when  the  original  number  of  stripes 
was  re-established,  the  stars  continuing  to  increase  as  new  States 
were  admitted.  There  are  now,  in  1894,  forty-four  stars  in  the  flag. 
In  designing  a  flag  the  union  should  be  one-third  the  length,  and 
cover  the  width  of  seven  stripes.  The  infantry  company  flag  is  six 
by  six  and  one-half  feet. 

There  is  no  reason  for  the  difference  of  size  in  the  stars  as  seen 
on  some  flags,  except  the  taste  of  the  maker,  nor  is  there  any 
official  rule  for  the  arrangement  of  the  stars  on  the  union,  or  field, 
but  in  the  army  flag  they  are  grouped  in  the  form  of  one  large 
central  star,  and  in  the  navy  flag  they  are  arranged  in  parallel 

rows. 

The  first  United  States  flag  was  hoisted  by  Lieutenant  John 
Paul  Jones,  who  was  placed  in  command  of  the  Ranger,  a  United 
States  war  vessel,  the  same  day  Congress  adopted  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  ;  at  the  time  it  was  flung  to  the  breeze  the  vessel  was  in 
Portsmouth  harbor. 

At  the  National  Encampment  of  the  Grand  Army  ot  the 
Republic,  held  in  Boston,  August,  1890,  this  flag  was  worn  across 
the  shoulders  of  Quartermaster  Robert  B.  Lincoln  of  Dahlgren 
Post  2,  as  it  was  not  in  a  condition  to  be  borne  aloft.  This  flag 
is  owned  by  Mrs.  Stafford  of  Cottage  City,  who  kindly  loaned  it  to 
the  Massachusetts  Department  for  the  parade.  The  Stars  and 
Stripes  were  first  carried  around  the  world  by  Captain  John  Ken- 
drick  of  Boston,  sailing  in  the  fall  of  1787  in  the  craft  Columbia. 


X 


282 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASIOJST. 


FLAG-RAISING  DAY, 


283 


The  time  consumed  in   making   the  voyage    was  nearly  three 
years. 

The  Stars  and  Stripes  has  become  an  educational  factor  on  the 
line  of  patriotism  :  several  of  the  States  having  enacted  laws  mak- 
ing it  obligatory  upon  school  officials  to  hoist  the  flag  upon  school 
buildings  or  upon  a  flag  pole  on  the  school  grounds  during  the 
sessions  of  the  school. 

The  President's  Flag.— The  origin  of  the  President's  Flag  is 
due  to  President  Arthur.  He  suggested  it  in  the  spring  of  1882, 
his  attention  having  been  called  to  the  fact  that  nearly  every  other 
great  power  in  the  world  had  a  royal  ensign  ;  that  is,  a  flag  used  to 
indicate  the  presence  of  its  head  or  ruler  on  any  vessel.  The 
matter  was  laid  before  the  Cabinet,  which  made  no  opposition. 
The  President  himself  decided  upon  the  design  of  the  flag,  which 
was  to  be  a  blue  ground  with  the  arms  of  the  United  States  in  the 
center.  It  was  then  ordered  by  the  Navy  department  that  the  new 
flag  should  be  placed  on  their  lists  and  hoisted  at  the  main  when 
the  President  was  on  board  any  vessel.  It  was  first  used  on  the 
occasion  of  President  Arthur's  trip  to  Florida  in  1883. 

The  Flag  over  Fort  Sumter.— For  eighty-four  years  the 
Stars  and  Stripes  held  undisputed  sway  in  all  territory  belonging 
to  the  United  States;  then,  on  January  10,  1 861,  borne  at  the 
masthead  of  the  steamer  Star  of  the  West,  it  was  fired  upon  by 
South  Carolina  troops,  as  she  was  entering  Charleston  harbor 
carrying  supplies  to  the  garrison  at  Fort  Sumter.  This  was  fol- 
lowed by  a  regular  attack  on  the  fort,  April  12,  1861,  which  was 
the  beginning  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion. 

After  two  days  of  valiant  resistance  Major  Robert  Anderson  was 
obliged  to  surrender,  but  on  'terms  permitting  him  to  lower  the 
flag  himself  and  bear  it  away.  He  carried  it  to  Washington  and 
delivered  it  into  the  hands  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  who  carefully 
treasured  it  until  the  end  of  the  conflict,  when  it  was  sent  in  a  new 
mail  pouch  to  Fort  Sumter  where,  on  April  14,  1865,  Major-General 
Anderson  had  the  happy  privilege  of  restoring  the  old  smoke- 
stained,  shot-pierced  flag,  without  a  single  star  smitten  or  effaced 
from  its  fold  of  blue,  to  its  rightful  position  over  the  partially 
demolished  ramparts  of  Fort  Sumter.  A  young  officer  who  at  the 
time  was  serving  as  Assistant  Provost  Marshal  in  the  city  of 
Charleston,  S.  C,  participated  in  the  soul-stirring  ceremonies  of  the 
grand  occasion,  and  he  stated  that  Major-General  Anderson,  over- 
conie  with  emotion,  was  unable  to  hoist  the  flag,  and  received 
assistance  from  members  of  his  command. 

Is  there  a  parallel  case  in  the  history  of  all  nations  where  the 
terms  of  surrender  allowed  the  flag  to  be  borne  away  by  its  defend- 
ers, and  afterward,  the  fortunes  of  war  turning,  the  same  flag 
raised  by  the  same  man  over  the  same  fort  to  remain  trium- 
phant ? 


Flag  at  Half-Mast.  The  custom  of  putting  flags  at  half- 
staff  or  half-mast  is  probably  as  old  as  the  use  of  flags  themselves, 
which  certainly  dates  back  to  the  time  of  the  Punic  wars,  if  not 
farther.  It  was  customary  at  that  time  to  lower  the  flag  in  token 
of  defeat,  for  we  are  told  that  after  the  defeat  of  the  Carthaginian 
ships  by  the  Romans,  the  flags  were  taken  down  and  trailed  over 
their  sterns  by  the  victors,  as  it  is  still  done  when  captured  vessels 
are  brought  into  port.  The  custom  of  putting  flags  at  half-mast 
is,  in  all  probability,  quite  as  old,  and  most  likely  was  confined  to 
the  navy  at  first. 

The  United  States  Revenue  Flag  was  adopted  in  1799. 
Its  design  is  credited  to  Oliver  Wolcott,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
under  John  Adams.  It  is  a  small  flag,  consisting  of  sixteen  red 
and  white  vertical  stripes,  representing  the  sixteen  States  then  in 
the  Union,  and  a  white  union  with  the  national  eagle  and  stars  in 
dark  blue. 

The  Lighthouse  Service  Flag  is  a  long  white  triangle 
with  a  red  border,  a  blue  lighthouse  on  a  white  field. 

The  Flag  Raised  over  Captured  Richmond.— The  first 
National  flag  that  was  raised  over  the  capitol  of  Richmond,  Va.,  on 
the  capture  of  that  city  on  the  morning  of  April  3,  1865,  was  the 
garrison  flag  of  the  Twelfth  Maine,  and  was  the  flag  that  had 
floated  over  the  St.  Charles  Hotel,  New  Orleans,  when  that  build- 
ing was  General  Butler's  headquarters.  General  Shipley  brought 
it  to  Virginia  and  gave  it  in  charge  to  Lieutenant  Johnston  L.  De 
Peyster,  a  youth  of  eighteen,  a  member  of  General  Weitzel's  staff, 
who  had  begged  of  General  Shipley  the  privilege  of  hoisting  the 
flag,  should  the  city  be  captured.  This  he  did  with  the  assistance  of 
Captain  Loomis  L.  Langdon,  Chief  of  Artillery  on  General  Weit- 
zel's staff,  immediately  upon  the  city's  surrender  at  8.15  o'clock, 
April  3,  1865. 

The  Confederate  Flag.— The  Confederate  flag  of  "stars 
and  bars  "  was  adopted  in  March,  1861,  by  the  Confederate  Con- 
gress. It  was  composed  of  three  horizontal  bars  of  equal  width, 
the  middle  one  of  which  was  white,  the  other  two  red,  and  in  the 
upper  left-hand  corner  was  a  blue  square  with  nine  white  stars 
arranged  in  a  circle.  Owing  to  some  real  or  supposed  confusion  of 
the  Union  and  Confederate  flags,  a  battle  flag  was  adopted  in 
September,  1861,  which  had  a  red  field  charged  with  a  blue 
saltier,  with  a  narrow  border  of  white,  on  which  were  displayed 
thirteen  white  stars.  The  stars  and  bars  was  supplanted  in  1863 
by  a  flag  with  a  white  field,  having  the  battle  flag  for  a  union. 
This  was  again  changed  before  the  collapse  of  the  Confederacy, 
and  finally  the  outer  half  of  the  field  beyond  the  union  was 
covered  with  a  vertical  red  bar. 


284 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION. 


OUR  FLAG  IN  HISTORY. 


HON.    J.    T.    HEADLEY. 

Men,  in  the  aggregate,  demand  something  besides 
abstract  ideas  and  principles.  Hence  the  desire  for  sym- 
bols— something  visible  to  the  eye  and  that  appeals  to  the 
senses.  Every  nation  has  a  flag  that  represents  the  country 
— every  army  a  common  banner,  which,  to  the  soldier, 
stands  for  that  army.  It  speaks  to  him  in  the  din  of  battle, 
cheers  him  in  the  long  and  tedious  march,  and  pleads  with 
him  on  the  disastrous  retreat. 

Standards  were  originally  carried  on  a  pole  or  lance.  It 
matters  little  what  they  may  be,  for  the  symbol  is  the 
same. 

In  ancient  times  the  Hebrew  tribes  had  each  its  own 
standard — that  of  Ephraim,  for  instance,  was  a  steer  ;  of 
Benjamin,  a  wolf.  Among  the  Greeks,  the  Athenians  had 
an  owl,  and  the  Thebans  a  sphynx.  The  standard  of 
Romulus  was  a  bundle  of  hay  tied  to  a  pole,  afterward  a 
human  hand,  and  finally  an  eagle.  Eagles  were  at  first 
made  of  wood,  then  of  silver,  with  thunderbolts  of  gold. 
Under  Caesar  they  were  all  gold,  without  thunderbolts,  and 
were  carried  on  a  long  pike.  The  Germans  formerly 
fastened  a  streamer  to  a  lance,  which  the  duke  carried  in 
front  of  the  army.  Russia  and  Austria  adopted  the  double- 
headed  eagle.  The  ancient  national  flag  of  England,  all 
know,  was  the  banner  of  St.  George,  a  white  field  with  a 
red  cross.  This  was  at  first  used  in  the  Colonies,  but 
several  changes  were  afterward  made. 

Of  course,  when  they  separated  from  the  mother  country, 
it  was  necessary  to  have  a  distinct  flag  of  their  own,  and 
the  Continental  Congress  appointed  Dr.  Franklin,  Mr. 
Lynch,  and  Mr.  Harrison,  a  committee  to  take  the  subject 
into  consideration.  They  repaired  to  the  American  army, 
a  little  over  nine  thousand  strong,  then  assembled  at  Cam- 
bridge, and  after  due  consideration  adopted  one  composed 


FLAG-RAISING  DAY. 


285 


of  seven  white   and  seven  red  stripes,  with  the  red  and 
white  crosses  of  St.  George  and   St.  Andrew  conjoined  on 
a  blue    field    in    the    corner,  and    named    it,  "  The   Great 
Union  Flag."     The  crosses  of  St.  George  and  St.  Andrew 
were  retained  to  show  the  willingness  of  the  Colonies  to 
return   to  their  allegiance  to    the   British  crown,   if  their 
rights  were  secured.     This  flag  was  first  hoisted  on  the  first 
day    of   January,    1776.     In   the    meantime,   the    various 
Colonies  had  adopted  distinctive  badges,  so  that  the  differ- 
ent bodies  of  troops  that  flocked  to  the  army  had  each  its 
own  banner.     In  Connecticut,  each  regiment  had  its  own 
peculiar  standard,  on  which  were  represented  the  arms  of 
the  Colony,  with  the  motto,  "Qui  transtulit  sustinet"  (he 
who  transplanted  us  still  sustains  us).     The  one  that  Put- 
nam gave  to  the  breeze  on  Prospect  Hill  on  the   i8th  of 
July,  1775,  was  a  red  flag,  with  this  motto  on  one  side,  and 
on  the  other,  the  words  inscribed,  "  An  appeal  to  Heaven." 
That  of  the  floating  batteries  was  a  white  ground  with  the 
same  ''  Appeal  to  Heaven  "  upon  it.     It  is  supposed  that  at 
Bunker  Hill  our  troops  carried  a  red  flag,  with  a  pine  tree 
on  a  white  field  in  the  corner.     The  first  flag  in  South  Car- 
olina  was  blue,  with  a  crescent  in  the  corner,  and  received 
its  first  baptism  under  Moultrie.     In  1776,  Colonel  Gadsen 
presented  to  Congress  a  flag  to  be  used  by  the  navy,  which 
consisted    of   a    rattlesnake    on   a   yellow    ground,    with 
thirteen   rattles,  and  coiled    to    strike.     The  motto    was, 
"Don't   tread    on    me."     "The   Great    Union    Flag,'     as 
described  above,  without  the  crosses,  and  sometimes  with 
the  rattlesnake  and  motto,  "  Don't  tread  on  me,"  was  used 
as  a  naval  flag,  called  the  "  Continental  Flag." 

\s  the  war  progressed,  different  regiments  and  corps 
adopted  peculiar  flags,  by  which  they  were  designated. 
The  troops  which  Patrick  Henry  raised  and  cal  ed  the 
-  Culpepper  Minute  Men  "  had  a  banner  with  a  rattlesnake 
on  it,  and  the  mottoes,  -  Don't  tread  on  me,"  and  "Liberty 
or  Death,"  together  with  their  name.  Morgan's  celebrated 
riflemen,   called    the    -  Morgan  Rifles,"  not   only    had    a 


ii'j..-^»>a.r.*  saii-j.-.Af  ^]»<Ji;l|:A«i'ai^.illbaa»Wiaii*aSllMj 


286 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


peculiar  uniform,  but  a  flag  of  their  own,  on  which  was 
inscribed,  "XL  Virginia  Regiment,"  and  the  words, 
♦'Morgan's  Rifle  Corps."  On  it  was  also  the  date,  1776,* 
surrounded  by  a  wreath  of  laurel.  Wherever  this  banner- 
floated,  the  soldiers  knew  that  deadly  work  was  being  done. 
When  the  gallant  Pulaski  was  raising  a  body  of  cavalry, 
in  Baltimore,  the  nuns  of  Bethlehem  sent  him  a  banner  of 
crimson  silk,  with  emblems  on  it  wrought  by  their  own 
hands.  That  of  Washington's  Life  Guard  was  made  of 
white  silk,  with  various  devices  upon  it,  and  the  motto, 
"  Conquer  or  die." 

It  doubtless  always  will  be  customary  in  this  country, 
during  a  war,  for  different  regiments  to  have  flags  presented 
to  them  with  various  devices  upon  them.  It  was  so  during 
the  recent  war,  but  as  the  Stars  and  Stripes  supplant  them 
all,  so  in  our  Revolutionary  struggle  the  "  Great  Union 
Flag,"  which  was  raised  in  Cambridge,  took  the  place  of  all 
others  and  became  the  flag  of  the  American  army. 

But  in  1777,  Congress,  on  the  19th  day  of  June,  passed 
the  following  resolution  :  "  Resolved,  That  the  flag  of  the 
thirteen  United  States  be  thirteen  stripes,  alternate  red  and 
white,  that  the  union  be   thirteen  stars,   white,  in  a  blue 
field,  representing  a  new  constellation."     A  constellation, 
however,  could  not  well  be  represented  on  a  flag,  and  so  it 
was  changed  into  a  circle  of  stars,  to  represent  harmony 
and  union.     Red  is  supposed  to  represent  courage,  white, 
integrity  of  purpose,  and  blue,  steadfastness,  love,  and  faith! 
This  flag,  however,  was  not  used  till  the  following  autumn, 
and  waved  first  over  the  memorable  battlefield  of  Saratoga! 
Thus  our  flag  was  born,  which  to-day  is  known,  respected, 
and  feared  round  the  entire  globe.     In  1794  it  received  a 
slight  modification,  evidently  growing  out  of  the  intention 
at  that  time  of  Congress  to  add  a  new  stripe  with  every 
additional  State  that  came  into  the  Union,  for  it  passed  that 
year  the   following  resolution:  ''Resolved,  That  from  and 
after  the   ist  day  of   May,  Anno  Domini,  1795,  the  flag  of 
the  United   States  be    fifteen  stripes,   alternate    red  and 


FLAG-RAISING  DAY. 


287 


white.  That  the  union  be  fifteen  stars,  white,  in  a  blue 
field."  In  1 818,  it  was  by  another  resolution  of  Congress 
changed  back  into  thirteen  stripes,  with  twenty-one  stars,  and 
in  which  it  was  provided  that  a  new  star  should  be  added  to 
the  union  on  the  admission  of  each  new  State.  That  resolu- 
tion has  never  been  rescinded,  till  now  forty-four  stars  blaze 
on  our  banner.  The  symbol  of  our  nationality,  the  record 
of  our  glory,  it  has  become  dear  to  the  heart  of  the  people. 
On  the  sea  and  on  the  land  its  history  has  been  one  to  swell 
the  heart  with  pride.  The  most  beautiful  flag  in  the  world 
in  its  appearance,  it  is  stained  by  no  disgrace,  for  it  has 
triumphed  in  every  struggle.  Through  three  wars  it  bore 
us  on  to  victory,  and  in  this  last  terrible  struggle  against 
treason,  though  baptized  in  the  blood  of  its  own  children, 
not  a  star  has  been  effaced,  and  it  still  waves  over  a  united 
nation. 

Whenever  the  "  Star-Spangled  Banner "  is  sung,  the 
spontaneous  outburst  of  the  vast  masses,  as  the  chorus  is 
reached,  shows  what  a  hold  that  flag  has  on  the  popular 
heart.  It  not  only  represents  our  nationality,  but  it  is  the 
people's  flag.  It  led  them  on  to  freedom — it  does  something 
more  than  appeal  to  their  pride  as  a  symbol  of  national 
greatness — it  appeals  to  their  affections  as  a  friend  of  their 
dearest  rights. 


HISTORY     AND    ORIGIN    OF     OUR    NATIONAL 
AIR  AND  OTHER  PATRIOTIC  SONGS. 

"The  Star-Spangled  Banner." — Francis  Scott  Key, 
its  author,  left  Baltimore  for  the  purpose  of  securing  the 
release  of  a  friend  held  as  a  prisoner  of  war,  but  was  detained 
at  the  Patapsco  and  ordered  to  remain  there,  lest  his  going 
back  should  reveal  the  plan  of  an  intended  attack  on  Balti- 
more. During  the  night  while  watching  from  the  deck  of 
the  vessel  the  bombardment  of  Fort  McHenry,  and  waiting 
for  the  dawn  when  he  should  behold  either  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  or  the  English  Union,  he  wrote  those  lines,  first 


iiaiifltaBWrfa»aa»IMr»iirt.i«arii;taaiaiitottiiMh  AMM^ia  tr  '•-  *•-"'■'■■■=  — J*--'-'^  -m  i-t-~  —ix-^^ 


288 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


FLAG-RAISING  DAY. 


289 


known  as  the  ''  Defense  of  Fort  McHenry."  In  the  morn- 
ing when  he  saw  that  "  Our  flag  was  still  there,"  proclaim- 
ing the  battle  was  over  and  his  countrymen  were  victorious, 
he  was  wild  with  delight.  The  words,  adapted  to  an  English 
song,  *'  Anacreon  in  Heaven,"  so  expressed  the  sentiment 
of  the  American  people  that  they  were  adopted  as  the 
national  air. 

The  tattered  and  soiled  battle  flags  so  carefully  preserved 
in  many  State  Capitols  have  a  language  of  their  own  which 
speaks  to  every  patriotic  heart,  proclaiming  that  the  flag  is 
not  a  simple  piece  of  bunting,  but  what  it  represents,  and 
that  is  :  the  growth,  development,  and  civilization  of  a  nation, 
and  the  hardships  and  sacrifices  of  the  brave  and  noble  men 
who  have  fought  and  died  for  it  that  it  might  continue  to 
be  what  it  was,  and  is,  the  emblem  of  the  whole  nation. 

From  the  many  glowing  apostrophes  to  the  American 
Flag  the  following,  uttered  by  Senator  Charles  Sumner,  is 
worthy  of  record  : 

**  There  is  the  National  Flag  !  He  must  be  cold  indeed 
who  can  look  upon  its  folds  rippling  in  the  breeze  without 
pride  of  country.  If  in  a  foreign  land,  the  Flag  is  com- 
panionship and  country  itself  with  all  its  endearments.  .  . 
It  has  been  called  '  a  floating  piece  of  poetry,'  and  yet  I 
know  not  if  it  have  any  intrinsic  beauty  beyond  other 
ensigns.  Its  highest  beauty  is  what  it  symbolizes.  .  .  It 
is  apiece  of  bunting  lifted  in  the  air,  but  it  speaks  sublimely, 
and  every  part  has  a  voice.  .  .  The  very  colors  have  a 
language  which  was  officially  recognized  by  our  fathers, 
White  is  for  purity.  Red  for  valor.  Blue  for  justice,  and 
altogether— bunting,  stripes,  stars,  and  colors  blazing  in  the 
sky— make  the  Flag  of  Our  Country  to  be  cherished  by  all 
our  hearts,  to  be  upheld  by  all  our  hands." 

**  America  "  was  written  in  1822,  by  Rev.  Samuel  Fran- 
cis Smith,  who  yet  lives  in  Massachusetts.  He  was  a 
graduate  of  Harvard  in  the  same  class  with  Oliver  Wendell 
Holmes. 


**  Hail  Columbia  "  was  written  by  Joseph  Hopkinson, 
in  1798,  under  the  then  title, '*  The  President's  March," 
and  was  always  sung  when  Washington  entered  the  theater. 
Joseph  Hopkinson  was  twenty-eight  years  old  when  he 
wrote  it,  and  it  was  set  to  music  by  a  German  music  teacher 
of  Philadelphia,  named  Roth. 

**  Yankee  Doodle  "  is  not  of  American  origin.  The 
words  date  beyond  Queen  Anne's  reign,  the  tune  even 
older.  It  was  called  **  Yankee  Doodle "  in  derision  of 
Cromwell.  It  was  introduced  into  this  country  in  1775,  in 
contempt  of  the  ragged  Colonial  soldiers.  But  the  Yankees 
got  the  best  of  their  deriders  when  the  British  at  Concord 
and  Lexington  retreated,  after  defeat,  by  striking  up 
"Yankee    Doodle." 

"Columbia,  the  Gem  of  the  Ocean,"  was  composed 
by  Thomas  Reckot,  in  1779.  He  was  an  actor  and  music 
teacher  at  Philadelphia. 

OUR  NATIONAL  EMBLEM.* 

REV.    HENRY    WARD    BEECHER. 

A  THOUGHFUL  mind,  when  it  sees  a  nation's  flag,  sees 
not  the  flag,  but  the  nation  itself.  And  whatever  may  be 
its  symbols,  its  insignia,  he  reads  chiefly  in  the  flag  the 
government,  the  principles,  the  truths,  the  history,  that 
belong  to  the  nation  that  sets  it  forth.  When  the  French 
tricolor  rolls  out  to  the  wind,  we  see  France.  When  the 
new  found  Italian  flag  is  unfurled,  we  see  resurrected  Italy. 
When  the  other  three-colored  Hungarian  flag  shall  be 
lifted  to  the  wind,  we  shall  see  in  it  the  long  buried,  but 
never  dead,  principles  of  Hungarian  liberty.  When  the 
united  crosses  of  St.  Andrew  and   St.  George,  on  a  fiery 

*  Address  delivered  in  Plymouth  Church,  Brooklyn,  before  the 
"  Brooklyn  Fourteenth,"  at  which  time  the  church  contributed  %^OQO 
toward  the  equipment  of  this  regiment  for  the  War. 


f  aiiriiirii*ifi-iiW'^-«-*''^^'^='^ 


290 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION'. 


FLAG-RAISING  DAY. 


291 


ground,  set  forth  the  banner  of  Old  England,  we  see  not 
the  cloth  merely  ;  there  rises  up  before  the  mind  the  idea 
of  that  great  monarchy. 

This  nation  has  a  banner  too;  the  symbol  of  liberty. 
Not  another  flag  on  the  globe  had  such  an  errand,  or  went 
forth  upon  the  sea  carrying  everywhere,  the  world  around, 
such  hope  to  the  captive  and  such  glorious  tidings.  And 
wherever  this  flag  comes,  and  men  behold  it,  they  see  in  its 
sacred  emblazonry  no  ramping  lion,  and  no  fierce  eagle, 
no  embattled  castles  or  insignia  of  imperial  authority  ; 
they  see  the  symbols  of  light.  It  is  the  banner  of  dawn. 
It  means  liberty  ;  and  the  galley  slave,  the  poor,  oppressed 
conscript,  the  trodden  down  creature  of  foreign  despotism, 
sees  in  the  American  flag  that  very  promise  and  prediction 
of  God. 

If  one,  then,  asks  me  the  meaning  of  our  flag,  I  say  to 
him  :  it  means  just  what  Concord  and  Lexington  meant, 
what  Bunker  Hill  meant  ;  it  means  the  whole  glorious 
Revolutionary  War,  which  was,  in  short,  the  rising  up  of 
a  valiant  young  people  against  an  old  tyranny,  to  establish 
the  most  momentous  doctrine  that  the  world  had  ever 
known,  the  right  of  men  to  their  own  selves  and  to  their 
liberties. 

Our  flag  carries  American  ideas,  American  history,  and 
American  feelings.  Beginning  with  the  colonies,  and  com- 
ing down  to  our  time,  in  its  sacred  heraldry,  in  its  glorious 
insignia,  it  has  gathered  and  stored  chiefly  this  supreme 
idea  :  Divine  right  of  liberty  in  man.  Every  color  means 
liberty  ;  every  form  of  star  and  beam  or  stripe  of  light 
means  liberty  :  not  lawlessness,  not  license  ;  but  organized, 
institutional  liberty,  liberty  through  law,  and  laws  for 
liberty  !   .    .    . 

For  God  Almighty  be  thanked  !  that,  when  base  and 
degenerate  Southern  men  desired  to  set  up  a  nefarious 
oppression,  at  war  with  every  legend  and  every  instinct  of 
old  American  history,  they  could  not  do  it  under  our  bright 
flag  !     Its  stars  smote  them  with  light  like  arrows  shot  from 


the  bow  of  God.  They  must  have  another  flag  for  such 
work  ;  and  they  forged  an  infamous  flag  to  do  an  infamous 
work,  and,  God  be  blessed  !  left  our  bright  and  starry 
banner  untainted  and  untouched  by  disfigurement  and 
disgrace  ! 

That  banner  advanced  full  against  the  morning  light, 
and  borne  with  the  growing  and  glowing  day  it  shall  take 
the  last  ruddy  beams  of  the  night,  and  from  the  Atlantic 
wave,  clear  across  with  eagle  flight  to  the  Pacific,  the 
banner  shall  float,  meaning  all  the  liberty  which  it  has  ever 
meant!  From  the  North,  where  snow  and  mountain  ice 
stand  solitary,  clear  to  the  glowing  tropics  and  the  Gulf, 
that  banner  that  has  hitherto  waved  shall  wave  and  wave 
forever,  every  star,  every  band,  every  thread  and  fold 
significant  of  Liberty  ! 

Our  States  grew  up  under  it.  And  when  our  ships 
began  to  swarm  upon  the  ocean,  to  carry  forth  our  com- 
merce, and,  inspired  by  the  genial  flame  of  liberty,  to 
carry  forth  our  ideas,  and  Great  Britain  arrogantly 
demanded  the  right  to  intrude  her  search  warrants  upon 
American  decks,  then  up  went  the  lightning  flag,  and  every 
star  meant  liberty  and  every  stripe  streamed  defiance. 

The  gallant  fleet  of  Lake  Erie — have  you  forgotten  it  ? 
The  thunders  that  echoed  to  either  shore  were  over- 
shadowed by  this  broad  ensign  of  our  American  liberty. 
Those  glorious  men  that  went  forth  in  the  old  ship  Constitu- 
Hon  carried  this  banner  to  battle  and  to  victory.  The  old 
ship  is  alive  yet.  The  new  traitors  of  the  South  could  not 
burn  her,  they  did  not  sink  her  ;  and  she  has  been  hauled 
out  of  the  reach  of  hostile  hands  and  traitorous  bands. 
Bless  the  name,  bless  the  ship,  bless  the  historic  memory, 
and  bless  the  old  flag  that  waves  over  her  yet ! 

How  glorious  has  been  its  history  ?  How  divine  is  its 
meaning  !  In  all  the  world  is  there  a  banner  that  carried 
such  hope,  such  grandeur  of  spirit,  such  soul-inspiring 
truth,  as  our  dear  old  American  flag?  made  by  liberty, 
made  for  liberty,  nourished  in  its  spirit,  carried  in  its  ser- 


292 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION, 


FLAG-RAISING  DAY. 


vice,  and  never,  not  once  in  all  the  earth,  made  to  stoop 
to  despotism  !  Never— did  I  say  ?  Alas  !  Only  to  that 
worst  despotism,  Southern  slavery,  has  it  bowed.  Remem- 
ber everyone  of  you,  that  the  slaveholders  of  the  South, 
alone  of  all  the  world,  have  put  their  feet  upon  the 
American  flag  ! 


293 


OUR   FLAG.* 

REV.   H.   H.   BIRKINS. 

One  of  the  most  conspicuous  and  pleasing  objects  in  our 
broad  land  to-day  is  the  starry  emblem  of  freedom— our 
dear  old  flag.  We  see  it,  a  centennial  spectacle,  floating 
everywhere,  as  we  never  saw  it  before,  and  as  we  never 
shall  see  it  again.  It  is  unfurled  along  our  highways,  it 
adorns  our  public  and  private  dwellings,  it  floats  over  our 
temples  of  worship,  our  halls  of  learning  and  courts  of 
justice,  and  waves  as  grandly  and  gracefully  over  the  lowest 
cottage  in  the  land,  as  over  the  proud  dome  of  the  Capitol 
itself.  It  is  our  flag,  with  sweet  centennial  memories  cling- 
ing to  every  fold,  our  flag  along  whose  stripes  we  may  trace 
the  triumphant  march  of  one  hundred  years,  and  from 
whose  stars  we  see  the  light  of  hope  and  liberty  still  flash- 
ing upon  the  nations. 

The  origin  of  our  flag  is,  to  some  extent,  involved  in 
mystery  and  controversy. 

The  first  distinctively  American  flag  was  unfurled  to  the 
breeze  on  the  ist  day  of  January,  1776.  It  consisted  of 
"seven  white  and  seven  red  stripes,"  and  bore  upon  its 
front  the  *'  red  and  white  crosses  of  St.  George  and  St. 
Andrew,"  and  was  called  *'  The  Great  Union  Flag."  This 
flag  quickly  displaced  all  other  military  devices,  and  be- 
came the  battle-banner  of  the  American  Army.  In  1777, 
however,  it  was  greatly  changed.  The  crosses  were  omitted 
and  thirteen  red  and  white  stripes  were  used  to  denote  the 

♦Centennial  address  delivered  at  Washington   Heights,   New   York 
City,  July  4,  1876. 


thirteen  States,  and  thirteen  stars  were  used  to  represent 
the  union  of  those  States.  And  our  flag  still  retains  its 
stars,  occasionally  adding  one  to  the  number,  and,  as  traitors 
know  to  their  sorrow,  it  also  still  retains  its  stripes^  well  laid 
on.  We  have  never  found  it  necessary  to  ask  true  American 
citizens  to  respect  and  honor  our  flag.  When  General  Dix, 
on  the  29th  of  January,  1861,  penned  those  terse  memorable 
words  :  *'  If  anyone  attempts  to  haul  down  the  American 
flag,  shoot  him  on  the  spot,"  the  loyal  people  of  the  nation 
said,  **  Amen.     So  let  it  be." 

We  do  not  wonder  that  our  people,  and  especially  our 
soldiers,  love  the  flag.  It  is  to  them  both  a  history  and  a 
prophecy.  No  wonder  that  brave  soldier  as  he  fell  on  the 
field  of  battle  said,  "  Boys,  don't  wait  for  me  ;  just  open  the 
folds  of  the  old  flag  and  let  me  see  it  once  more  before  I 

die." 

No  wonder  that  Massachusetts  soldier  boy,  dying  in  the 
gory  streets  of  Baltimore,  lifted  up  his  glazing  eyes  to  the 
flag  and  shouted,  *'  All  hail,  the  Stars  and  the  Stripes  !  " 
Our  flag  is  a  power  everywhere.  One  has  justly  said  :  ''  It 
is  known,  respected,  and  feared  round  the  entire  globe. 
Wherever  it  goes,  it  is  the  recognized  symbol  of  intelligence, 
equality,  freedom,  and  Christian  civilization.  Wherever  it 
goes  the  immense  power  of  this  great  Republic  goes  with  it, 
and  the  hand  that  touches  the  honor  of  the  flag,  touches 
the  honor  of  the  Republic  itself.  On  Spanish  soil,  a  man 
entitled  to  the  protection  of  our  government  was  arrested 
and  condemned  to  die.  The  American  consul  interceded 
for  his  life,  but  was  told  that  the  man  must  suffer  death. 

The  hour  appointed  for  the  execution  came,  and  Spanish 
guns,  gleaming  in  the  sunlight,  were  ready  for  the  work  of 
death.  At  that  critical  moment  the  American  consul  took 
our  flag,  and  folded  its  stars  and  stripes  around  the  person 
of  the  doomed  man,  and  then  turning  to  the  soldiers,  said  : 
**  Men,  remember  that  a  single  shot  through  that  flag  will 
be  avenged  by  the  entire  power  of  the  American  Republic." 
That  shot  was  never  fired.     And  that  man,  around  whom 


294 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION. 


the  shadows  of  death  were  gathering,  was  saved  by  the 
Stars  and  the  Stripes.  Dear  old  flag  !  Thou  art  a  power 
at  home  and  abroad.  Our  fathers  loved  thee  in  thine 
infancy,  one  hundred  years  ago  ;  our  heroic  dead  loved 
thee,  and  we  love  thee,  and  fondly  clasp  thee  to  our  hearts 
to-day.  All  thy  stars  gleam  like  gems  of  beauty  on  thy 
brow,  and  all  thy  stripes  beam  upon  the  eye  like  bows  of 
promise  to  the  nation. 

Wave  on,  thou  peerless,  matchless  banner  of  the  free  ! 
Wave  on,  over  the  army  and  the  navy,  over  the  land  and 
the  sea,  over  the  cottage  and  the  palace,  over  the  school 
and  the  church,  over  the  living  and  the  dead  ;  wave  ever 
more,  "  O'er  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave." 


THE  WIDESPREAD  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  FLAG. 

R.   S.   ROBERTSON,    FORT  WAYxNE,   IND. 

Twine  close  around  your  hearts  each  thread  of  our 
country's  flag,  that  dear  old  flag  which  has  so  often  led  us  to 
victory.  Its  stars  and  stripes  have  waved  in  triumph  from 
the  snow  of  Canada  to  the  burning  sands  of  the  Gulf,  and 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  shores.  They  have  waved 
over  the  halls  of  the  Montezumas  and  over  every  portion 
of  the  great  seas,  leading  the  brave  and  the  free  to  victory 
and  glory.  They  waved  over  our  cradles,  and  let  us  ever 
pray  that  they  may  wave  over  our  graves. 

What  lessons  we  may  read  in  our  country's  emblem.  Its 
white  teaches  us  purity  of  purpose;  its  red  tvpifies  the 
blood  which  has  so  often  and  freely  been  shed  in  its 
defense  ;  and  its  blue,  with  its  constellation,  reminds  us  of 
the  starry  canopy  of  heaven,  behind  which  is  the  eternal 
camping  ground,  where  the  pure  and  good,  when  discharged 
from  service  here,  are  mustered  into  the  mighty  army  of 
the  saints  which  guards  the  throne  of  the  Most  High 
(  God.  ^ 


FLAG-RAISING  DAY. 


295 


A  NOTABLE  FLAG-RAISING. 

W.   R.   MAXFIELD. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  and  significant  events  that 
occurred  in  connection  with  the  naval  review  in  New  York 
harbor  on  Columbus  Day  was  the  raising  of  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  on  the  highlands  of  Navesink.  The  event  was 
significant  because  it  gave  assurances  of  the  fact  that  there 
is  still  a  good  deal  of  sturdy  patriotic  sentiment  among  us. 
There  is  a  constant  danger  that  in  the  hurry  and  excite- 
ment, the  cheap  liberalism,  and  the  consuming  mammonism 
of  these  days  love  for  country  will  ooze  out  and  take  its 
place  among  "  the  lost  arts."  The  utterance  of  the  poet 
Goldsmith  : 

111  fares  the  land,  to  hast'ning  ills  a  prey, 
Where  wealth  accumulates  and  men  decay ; 
Princes  and  lords  may  flourish,  or  may  fade  ; 
A  breath  can  make  them,  as  a  breath  has  made ; 
But  a  bold  peasantry,  their  country's  pride, 
When  once  destroyed  can  never  be  supplied, 

is  entitled  to  more  than  a  general  application.  There  is 
more  truth  in  it  than  one  feels  comfortable  in  acknowledg- 
ing. In  these  days,  any  and  every  movement  looking  in 
the  direction  of  the  development  of  patriotism  is  entitled  to 
the  most  kindly  treatment  and  the  most  generous  encour- 
agement. It  is,  then,  a  laudable  thing  to  fling  the  national 
emblem  to  the  breeze  every  day  in  the  year  from  the  brow 
of  the  old  bluff  that  overlooks  the  sea.  Now,  the  traveler 
going  over  the  sea  may  look  upon  his  country's  flag  as  the 
last  thing  to  bid  him  farewell,  and  when  homeward  bound 
will  rejoice  that  the  first  thing  to  greet  him  as  he  comes 
into  sight  of  ''  the  land  of  the  free  and  home  of  the  brave  " 
will  be  the  same  glorious  starry  banner  flapping  proudly  in 
the  breeze.  It  may  be  that  there  is  little  more  than  senti- 
ment  in  this,  and  to  many  people  who  never  smelled  gun- 
powder,  who  have  never  read  the  thrilling  story  of  their 


296 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASIOJ^. 


J^LAG-RAISING  DAY. 


297 


country's  struggle,  and  who  look  upon  an  old  veteran  as 
little  short  of  a  fool,  the  whole  thing  seems  vapid  and  silly. 
But  to  Americans  whose  hearts  burn  with  love  for  their 
country,  who  have  laid  themselves  upon  the  altar  of  devo- 
tion  and  are  ready  to  do  so  again,  and  to  whom  the  welfare 
of  the  nation  is  a  thing  as  precious  as  their  own  lives,  the 
flapping  of  **  Old  Glory  "  at  the  highlands  of  Navesink  is 
the  prophecy  of  a  more  glorious  era  for  this  splendid 
republic  of  ours. 

There  was  history  as  well  as   prophecy  in  that  event. 
The  first  flag  raised  upon  that  tall  flagstaff  which  stands 
between   the   twin    lighthouses   was   the  identical  emblem 
which  the  intrepid  John  Paul  Jones  carried  upon  his  famous 
ship,  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  when  she  encountered  and 
subdued  the  Serapis,  while  cruising  off  the  coast  of  Scotland 
in  September,  1779.     The  old  relic  of  the  gallant  fight  was 
rescued  by  Lieutenant  Stafford,  who  plunged  into  the  sea 
after  it  when  the  flag  was  shot  away  by  the  British  gunners. 
It  was  peculiarly  appropriate  and  felicitous  that  a  descendant 
of  the  brave  lieutenant  should  be  present  at  the  flag-raising 
and  haul  away  at  the   halyards  which   carried  the  old  flag 
aloft.     And   it  was  especially  fitting,  also,  that,  just  as  the 
flag  reached   the  crosstrees,  the  big  monitor  Miantonojnoh, 
which  was  lying  about  half  a  mile  at  sea,  should  belch  forth 
the  national  salute.     For  only  a  few  moments  did  the  Paul 
Jones   flag  wave  in  the  salt  breeze.     It  was  too  precious  a 
relic  to  let  it  flap  itself  threadbare  in  the  strong  wind.     As 
it  came  down  a  fine  large  flag  of  the  modern  kind  went  up, 
and  the  breezes  filled  it  and  made  it  look  like  a  living  thing! 
The  Paul  Jones  flag  is  of  the  same  general  character  as 
the  flag  of  to-day.     It  has  thirteen  stripes,  seven  red  and 
SIX  white,  but  it  has  only  twelve  stars  in   the  blue  field. 
Just  when  the  flag  was  adopted,  and  whether  it  was  the 
official  emblem,  are  matters  about  which  there  is  some  dis- 
pute.     It  was  most  likely  made  after  January  i,  1776,  for 
on  that    day  "the   tricolored    American   banner,  not   yet 
spangled  with  stars,  but  showing  thirteen  stripes  of  alternate 


f 


red  and  white  in  the  field,  and  the  united  red  and  white 
crosses  of  St.  George  and  St.  Andrew  on  a  blue  ground  in 
the  corner,  was  unfurled  over  the  new  continental  army 
round  Boston."  A  year  and  a  half  later  a  new  flag  was  in 
use,  for  when  Congress  celebrated  the  first  anniversary  of 
independence  in  Philadelphia,  '*  ships,  row-galleys,  and 
boats  showed  the  new  flag  of  the  thirteen  united  States  : 
thirteen  stripes,  alternate  red  and  white  ;  for  the  union 
thirteen  stars,  white  in  a  blue  field,  representing  a  new 
constellation." 

It  is  of  interest  to  note  in  this  immediate  connection  this 
curious  description  of  the  American  standard  of  1776,  which 
appeared  in  the  Scofs  Magazine  for  July  of  that  year  : 
**  The  colors  of  the  American  fleet  have  a  snake  with  thir- 
teen rattleib,  the  fourteenth  budding,  depicted  in  the  atti- 
tude of  going  to  strike,  with  this  motto, '  Don't  tread  on  me  ! ' 
It  is  a  rule  in  heraldry  that  the  worthy  properties  of  the 
animal  in  the  crest  borne  shall  be  considered,  and  the  base 
ones  cannot  be  intended.  The  ancients  accounted  a  snake 
the  emblem  of  wisdom,  and,  in  certain  attitudes,  of  endless 
duration.  The  rattlesnake  is  properly  a  representative 
of  America,  as  this  animal  is  found  in  no  other  part  of 
the  world.  The  eye  of  this  creature  excels  in  bright- 
ness most  of  any  other  animals.  She  has  no  eye-lids,  and 
is  therefore  an  emblem  of  vigilance.  She  never  begins  an 
attack,  nor  ever  surrenders  ;  she  is  therefore  an  emblem  of 
magnanimity  and  true  courage.  When  injured,  or  in  dan- 
ger of  being  injured,  she  never  wounds  till  she  has  given 
notice  to  her  enemies  of  their  danger.  No  other  of  her 
kind  shows  such  generosity.  When  undisturbed,  and  in 
peace,  she  does  not  appear  to  be  furnished  with  weapons 
of  any  kind.  They  are  latent  in  the  roof  of  her  mouth  ; 
and  even  when  extended  for  her  defense,  appear  to  those 
who  are  not  acquainted  with  her  to  be  weak  and  contempt- 
ible ;  yet  her  wounds,  however  small,  are  decisive  and 
fatal.  She  is  solitary,  and  associates  with  her  kind  only 
when  it  is  necessary  for  their  preservation.     Her  poison  is 


11  ■  t 


298 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION. 


at  once  the  necessary  means  of  digesting  her  food,  and 
certain  destruction  to  her  enemies.  The  power  of  fascina- 
tion attributed  to  her  by  a  generous  construction  resembles 
America.  Those  who  look  steadily  at  her  are  delighted, 
and  involuntarily  advance  toward  her  and,  having  once 
approached,  never  leave  her.  She  is  frequently  found  with 
thirteen  rattles,  and  they  increase  yearly.  She  is  beautiful 
in  youth,  and  her  beauty  increases  with  her  age.  Her 
tongue  is  blue,  and  forked  as  the  lightning." 

The  flag  should  have  a  large  place  in  the  affections  of 
all  lovers  of  liberty.  It  is  an  encouraging  sign  that  many 
of  our  schoolhouses  are  adorned  with  the  Stars  and  Stripes, 
and  that  scores  of  pulpits  are  draped  with  the  graceful 
folds  of  the  most  beautiful  banner  in  the  procession  of  the 
nations,  and  that  in  hundreds  and  thousands  of  homes  it 
is  displayed  and  honored.  It  is  also  a  hopeful  indication 
that  patriotic  men  and  women  are  pledging  themselves  to 
the  inculcation  of  patriotism  in  the  hearts  and  minds  of  the 
youth  of  the  land.  The  flag  deserves  the  highest  honor 
that  devoted  hearts  can  pay  to  it.  It  is  the  nation's  sacred 
emblem.     Long  may  it  wave  ! 

The  dawn  of  new  ages  is  breaking, 

The  cycle  of  Concord  has  come ; 
There  is  peace  in  the  echoing  bugle, 

And  a  festival  march  in  the  drum. 
To-day  the  old  Sandy  Hook  wakens 

An  echo  that  never  will  cease  ! 
O'er  the  spot  where  the  patriot  perished 

The  winds  lift  the  banner  of  peace ! 
O  flag  of  the  Navesink  Highlands ! 

That  patriot  hands  gave  the  air. 
The  joy  that  our  bosom  is  thrilling 

The  heart  of  the  ages  shall  share. 

Epworth  Herald. 


Where  the  flag  goes,  there  I  go. 


S.    THATFORD. 


PLAG-kAIStNG  DAY. 


CULTIVATING  LOVE  FOR  THE  FLAG.* 


299 


It  is  as  men's  hearts  are  stirred  by  some  great  emotion 
that  breaks  the  narrow  circle  in  which  we  ordinarily  walk 
and  lifts  up  the  plowboy  into  the  atmosphere  of  an  inspir- 
ing emotion,  that  men  and  nations  are  made  great.  Just 
that  work  was  done  by  the  great  Civil  War  for  this  genera- 
tion  that  is  coming  on.  Not  only  do  we  have  the  prints  of 
it  in  a  preserved  constitution,  in  a  flag  into  whose  folds 
have  been  woven  memories  that  increase  its  preciousness 
beyond  expression,  but  into  human  life,  into  the  household, 
and  into  the  State,  there  has  come  a  new,  sturdier,  and 
worthier  citizenship.  We  may  contemplate  these  years  of 
old  age  and  failing  strength,  these  times  of  the  yellow  leaf, 
with  some  tinge  of  sadness  ;  but,  thank  God,  the  horizon  of 
the  future  for  our  country  is  bright  and  glorious  and  the 
colors  that  shoot  up  from  the  setting  sun  give  assurance  of 
a  sunrise  for  our  country. 

Bright  days  shall  succeed  the  night  ;  men  shall  go  to 
accomplish  a  better  work  for  humanity  and  for  God.  Was 
there  ever  a  time  when  the  flag  was  more  loved  than  now  ? 
On  those  dreary  stretches  of  the  South,  where  those  of  us 
who  had  been  accustomed  to  a  blue  grass  sod  fairly  wept 
for  a  carpet  of  green  that  we  might  stretch  ourselves  on  it, 
and  rubbed  with  impatience  from  our  clothes  the  sand  that 
clung  to  us  and  that  ineradicable  pitch  that  came  from  the 
yellow  pine  of  the  South  that  we  had  cut  down  for  breast- 
works, it  seemed  to  us  that  there  was  nothing  lovely  but  the 
old  flag.  No  grace  of  woman's  presence,  no  bit  of  color,  no 
smiling  landscape— all  sand  and  devastation. 

How  thrillingly  I  recall  that  scene  near  Cassville,  when, 
after  being  in  the  woods  for  many  weeks  where  it  was 
impossible  to  see  the  length  of  a  single  regiment,  old  Joe 
Hooker's  corps— the  corps  of  the  north  star— swept  out  of 

*  Address  of  ex- President  B.  H.  Harrison  at  the  re-union  of  Seventieth 
Indiana  Regiment-a  part  of  his  former  command-delivered  September 
6,  1893. 


I  hiiiiriiiaiii'-i'iriiifriMiiir 


300 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


the  woods  into  one  of  those  open  glades  they  call  savannas, 
and  we  could  look  up  and  down  for  miles  and  see  the  ban- 
ners in  the  air  and  greet  our  comrades,  what  a  kindling 
there  was  of  hope  and  courage.  I  think  we  were  not  right 
certain  during  the  Atlanta  campaign  up  to  that  time  that 
we  did  not  have  it  all  on  our  own  shoulders.  It  has  been 
to  me  often  an  illustration  of  how  men  who  fight  in  any 
good  cause  and  think  they  are  alone,  occasionally,  in  God's 
providence,  get  just  a  glimpse  of  the  mighty  army  of  men 
and  women  who  love  the  truth  and  stand  for  it. 

There  is  a  great  reserve  of  patriotism.  We  differ  and 
fall  apart,  and  things  fall  into  evil  ways  in  public  affairs. 
Some  say  free  government  is  a  failure  and  the  people  going 
wrong  ;  but,  my  countrymen,  it  is  not  so.  Mr.  Lincoln 
expressed  it  truly  when  he  said,  **  The  people  may  get  off 
the  line  ;  but  they  will  wabble  right  after  a  while."  So  let 
us  not  lose  faith.  When  the  powers  of  evil  seem  to  lift 
themselves,  when  men  throw  out  the  red  flag  instead  of  the 
starry  banner  that  represents  law  and  liberty,  when  riots 
break  out  upon  the  streets  of  our  great  cities,  do  not  be 
discouraged  ;  do  not  forget,  for  I  tell  you  when  the  appeal 
comes  to  the  great  body  of  the  American  people — when  it 
comes  to  the  farms  and  shops,  to  those  who  are  the  sons  of 
the  soldiers  of  1861,  no  other  flag  will  be  permitted  to  stay 
for  one  moment  in  the  air  but  that  starry  banner. 

We  now  have  the  flag  over  the  schoolhouses.  I 
remember  that  at  the  observance  of  the  centennial  of 
Washington's  inauguration  in  New  York  how  greatly  I  was 
impressed,  as  I  have  been  here,  by  the  acres  of  flags  that 
were  spread  on  the  faces  of  the  great  buildings  of  the 
metropolis.  As  I  rode  up  through  Wall  Street  and  Broad- 
way— streets  that  mean  to  us  only  the  sharp,  greedy  com- 
petition of  trade — and  saw  every  sign  of  the  broker  and 
merchant  hidden  by  the  flag,  the  thought  came  to  me,  what 
will  they  do  with  all  these  flags  when  the  celebration  is 
over  ?  That  night  at  the  banquet  I  ventured  to  suggest 
that  they  should    be  sent  to  the  schoolhouses  and   raised 


FLAG-RAISING  DAY. 


301 


over    them,   and    now    that    has    been    pretty    generally 

done. 

One  thing  more  remains.     Let  us  bring  the  flag  into 
every  American  home.     Let  no  man's  sitting  room,  how- 
ever humble,  lack  this  decoration.     Some  of  you  were  with 
me  at  Nashville  as  we  were  building  intrenchments  against 
Hood  through  the  inclosure  of  a  very  elegant  mansion  sur- 
rounded by  very  spacious  and  well-adorned  grounds.     The 
proprietor  of  the  house   moving  out  his  furniture,  as  his 
house  was  directly   in  the  line,  I  happened  in  his  library 
when  he  was  taking  the  books  out  of  the  cases,  and  he 
opened  the  lower  drawer  of  his  bookcase  and  pulled  out  a 
handsome  bunting  garrison  flag.     Said  he  to  me  :  **  Colonel, 
have  you  got  a  garrison  flag  ?  "  I  said  :  **  No  ;  I  haven't  had 
much  occasion  for  one."     "  Well,"  said  he,  "  take  this,  and 
I  want  to  say  to  you,  sir,  that  I  have  never  been  without  a 
flag  in  my  house."     That  was  Judge  John  Trimble,  and  I 
have  kept  that  flag  until  this  hour.     I  bring  its  lesson  to 
you  to-day  and   give  you  the  thought  he  had  that  every 
American  citizen  ought  to  have  a  flag  in  his  house— in  it 
or  over  it.     Talk  to  the  children  about  it.     Tell  them  of 
these  riddled  banners,  with  the  staff  shot  away  in  battle. 
Tell  them  of  the  dead  that  lay  under  its  folds.     Tell  the 
stories  of  its  glory  from  the  time  of  the  Revolution  until 
this  hour.     Make  them  love  it.     Then  we  may  confidently 
leave  in  their  care  the  institutions  that  it  typifies  and  the 
Constitution  which  it  shades. 


AMERICANS     RALLYING     ROUND     THE 

NATIONAL    FLAG. 

MISS  H.   E.   BURNETT. 

As  Christians  rally  round  the  dear  old  Bible,  so  do  loyal 
Americans  gather  about  the  national  flag.  Fathers  and 
mothers,  brothers  and  sisters,  the  clergy  and  the  laity, 
civilians  and  politicians  agree  in  love  and  loyalty  to  this 


ias^^^^^^^^ 


302 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


emblem  to  the  point  of  supreme  sacrifice.  Armless  sleeves, 
sorrowful  firesides,  and  many  nameless  graves,  testify  to 
the  brave  and  true  who  have  vindicated  its  honor  unto  suf- 
fering and  death. 

May  the  "  sons  and  daughters  of  the  Revolution  "  of  this 
day  prove  worthy  of  the  mothers  and  sisters  who  preceded 
them  in  times  of  threatened  national  disaster. 

The  sons  who  have  followed  the  fortunes  of  our  country's 
banner  are  a  great   host,  and  worthy  daughters  have  done 
It  honor.      It  was  the  habit  of  Mrs.  George  Washington 
to  spend  all  the  time  between  the  campaigns  in  camp,  her 
presence  being  not  only  a  source  of  comfort  to  her  husband, 
but  having  a  cheering  influence  upon  the  army.     There  are 
romantic  incidents  of  woman's  valor  scattered  all  through 
the  annals  of  that  long  seven  years'  struggle.     There  was 
the  heroic  Molly  Pitcher,  who,  when  her  husband  was  killed 
beside  his  cannon  at  Monmouth,  manned  the  gun  herself 
and  through  the  sultry  June  day  did  good  work  in  wresting 
victory  from  the  arms  of  the  British.     There  was  the  beau- 
ful  and  spirited  Emily  Geiger  riding  on  a  dangerous  mis- 
sion  through  a  country  infested  by  Tories  and  British  to 
convey  valuable  information  to  General  Greene.     And  there 
was  that  stout-hearted  Mrs.   Motte,  who,  in  one  of  those 
forays  of  Marion's,  when  the  foe  had  taken  refuge  in  her 
own  house,  was  the  first  to  produce  a  bow  and  a  bundle  of 
blazing  arrows  to  set  fire  to  her  own  property. 

The  gentle  ministries  and  patient  self-denials  of  this  and 
the  Civil  War  might  fill  volumes.  11ie  spirit  of  heroism  of 
this  day  does  not  call  women  to  such  sacrifices  as  in  war 
times,  but  Christian  patriotism  still  demands  self-denial  for 
the  highest  good  of  our  native  land  ;  it  calls  for  time, 
strength,  the  equivalent  of  luxuries,  the  giving  up  of  many 
social  demands. 

Westminster  Endeavorer. 


I  WANT  no  more  honorable  winding  sheet  than  the  brave 
old  flag  of  the  Union. 


A.    JOHNSON. 


FLAG-RAISING  DAY, 


NO  FLAG  EXCEPT  "OLD  GLORY." 


303 


The  patriotic  resolutions  recently  adopted  by  Lafayette 
Post  (N.  Y.)  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  were 
particularly  inspiring  in  their  reference  to  *'  Old  Glory." 
The  resolutions  declare  that  "  no  flag,  except  '  Old  Glory,' 
should  float  from  any  of  our  public  buildings  or  be  carried 
in  processions,  excepting  on  occasions  when  foreign 
officials  are  the  guests  of  the  nation.  State,  or  municipality, 
and  that  legislation  should  be  had  to  this  end." 

This  is  an  altogether  creditable  sentiment  expressed  at  a 
proper  time.  There  have  been  a  number  of  recent  occa- 
sions when  the  precious  symbol  of  our  political  faith  was 
not  shown  that  respect  which  its  emblematic  significance 
deserves  and  demands.  Foreign  flags  are  too  conspicuous 
in  our  midst.  Civic  and  quasi-military  organizations  which 
require  the  presence  of  these  foreign  emblems  are  totally 
out  of  place  on  our  soil,  and  those  who  insist  upon  this 
abuse  of  our  national  forbearance  and  courtesy  should 
be  taught  the  true  nature  of  the  conditions  upon  which  they 
received  the  rich  blessings  and  inestimable  privileges  of 
American  citizenship. 

Our  glorious  land  is  broad  enough,  and  the  folds  of  our 
flag  are  wide  enough,  to  hold,  cover,  and  protect  all  to 
whom  we  may  generously  extend  a  welcome.  But  when 
once  upon  this  soil  of  freedom,  all  national  and  racial  dis- 
tinctions must  disappear.  There  can  be  no  Celt,  no  Teu- 
ton, no  Saxon  in  our  public  life— all  must  be  absorbed 
in  a  vigorous  and  comprehensive  Americanism.  Our  boast 
should  be  like  that  of  Webster  :  "  We  are  Americans,  we 
will  live  Americans,  and  we  will  die  Americans." 

All  this  is  expressed  by  the  flag.  Every  stripe  and  star 
stands  for  this  sentiment.  Over  all  its  "  ample  blue  "  is 
written  '*  in  letters  of  living  light  "  the  immortal  names  and 
glorious  deed  of  patriots  dead.  What  the  cross  is  to  faith, 
that  the  flag  is  to  freedom.  It  stands  for  our  past  heroism, 
our  present  power,  and  future  achievements  and  progress. 


1 


■  j^yi.-LI'l.nwJri'aft'jlitftalPlt*  f%' 


>;>M^rtfraaf*^JA^^d^A5Mmil<^fed«aw^^i!j;fl^^ 


304 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION". 


FLAG-RAISING  DAY. 


305 


It  Stands  for  our  peculiar  political  principles,  institutions, 
and  laws.  It  represents  our  dignity  and  honor  upon  every 
sea  and  reflects  our  glory  in  every  sky.  Its  rich  folds  are 
kissed  by  every  breeze  and  its  radiant  stars  have  illumined 
every  land. 

Long  may  it  float,  an  inspiration  to  patriotism  and  the 
terror  of  treason.  **  Still  full  high  advanced  its  stars  and 
trophies,  in  all  their  original  luster,  with  not  a  stripe  erased 
nor  a  star  obscured  " — may  it  ever  remain  the  inspiring 
emblem  of  an  intelligent,  patriotic,  courageous,  and  pro- 
gressive Americanism. 

Mail  and  Express. 

THE  BEAUTIFUL  AND  GLORIOUS  BANNER. 

COL.  W.    A.   PROSSNER. 

The  banner  of  beauty  and  glory  under  which  our  heroes 
fought  and  fell  is  looked  upon  with  pride  and  pleasure  by 
every  nation  under  the  sun,  because  it  is  the  emblem  of  all 
that  is  precious  in  human  hope  for  the  progress  and 
advancement  of  the  human  race.  It  excites  the  admiration 
and  the  enthusiasm  of  the  remotest  corners  of  the  earth, 
not  only  for  the  blood  which  has  consecrated  its  folds,  but 
because  of  the  principles  of  justice  and  of  equal  rights  to 
all  men  which  it  represents.  No  other  banner  that  floats 
on  the  mountain  or  plain,  or  that  is  unfurled  to  the  winds 
over  the  briny  deep,  is  worshiped  with  such  sublime  devo- 
sion,  simply  because  it  is  the  emblem  of  those  principles  of 
truth  and  right  which  the  Great  Father  of  us  all  has 
implanted  in  the  breasts  of  his  children.  Once  the  kings  of 
the  earth  were  those  who  controlled  the  lives  and  property 
of  whole  nations,  and  whose  possessions  were  the  diamonds 
of  Brazil  and  the  wealth  of  the  Indies.  But  now  the  kings 
of  the  earth  are  those  whose  labors  and  achievements  in  the 
fields  of  genius,  invention,  science,  literature,  poetry,  and 
song,  have  contributed  in  the  highest  degree  to  the 
advancement  of  human  happiness.     Under  the  starry  flag 


that  waves  over  this  fair  land,  every  citizen  is  a  king,  and 
there  is  no  avenue  to  wealth  and  fame,  position  and  power, 
that  is  not  open  to  every  child  of  the  Republic.  In  secur- 
ing the  preservation  and  the  permanence  of  republican 
institutions  in  America,  our  comrades  made  those  institu- 
tions possible  and  practicable  in  all  the  length  and  breadth 
of  their  unnumbered  benefits  to  the  remaining  nationalities 
of  the  civilized  world. 

If  we  must  die,  let  us  enter  the  portals  of  immortality 
with  the  consciousness  that  the  starry  flag  under  which  we 
lived  and  fought  was  never  stained  or  dishonored  by  our 
misconduct,  and  that  all  our  duties  and  obligations  as 
soldiers  and  citizens  were  sacredly  met  and  performed.  If 
we  live  in  deeds  and  not  years,  and  we  fill  the  measure  of 
our  usefulness  according  to  our  opportunities,  when  other 
generations  shall  come,  in  future  years,  to  pass  their  judg- 
ment upon  us,  it  may  occasion  us  no  regret  to  remember 

that 

None  but  the  actions  of  the  just 
Smell  sweet  and  blossom  in  the  dust, 


THE  OLD  FLAG  RESTORED.* 

REV.  HENRY  WARD  BEECHER. 

Since  this  flag  went  down  on  that  dark  day,  who  shall 
tell  the  mighty  woes  that  have  made  this  land  a  spectacle 
to  angels  and  men  ?  The  soil  has  drunk  blood,  and  is 
glutted.  Millions  mourn  for  millions  slain  ;  or,  envying 
the  dead,  pray  for  oblivion.  Towns  and  villages  have  been 
razed.  Fruitful  fields  have  turned  back  to  wilderness.  It 
came  to  pass,  as  the  prophet  said  :  The  sim  was  turned  to 
darkness,  and  the  moon  to  blood  The  course  of  law  was 
ended.  The  sword  sat  chief  magistrate  in  half  the  nation  ; 
industry   was   paralyzed  ;    morals   corrupted  ;    the   public 

*  Extract  from  an  address  at  the  raising  of  the  Union  Flag  over  Fort 
Sumter,  April  14*,  1865. 


It       ! 


306 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


FLAG-RAISING  DAY. 


307 


weal  invaded  by  rapine  and  anarchy  ;  whole  States  ravaged 
by  avenging  armies.  The  world  was  amazed.  The  earth 
reeled.  When  the  flag  sank  here,  it  was  as  if  political  night 
had  come,  and  all  beasts  of  prey  had  come  forth  to  devour. 
That  long  night  has  ended  !  And  for  this  returning  day 
we  have  come  from  afar  to  rejoice  and  give  thanks.  No 
more  war  !  No  more  accursed  secession !  No  more 
slavery,  that  spawned  them  both  ! 

Let  no  man  misread  the  meaning  of  this  unfolding  flag  ! 
It  says,  "  Government  hath  returned  hither."  It  proclaims, 
in  the  name  of  vindicated  government,  peace  and  protec- 
tion to  loyalty  ;  humiliation  and  pains  to  traitors.  This  is 
the  flag  of  sovereignty.  The  nation,  not  the  States,  is 
sovereign.  Restored  to  authority,  this  flag  commands,  not 
supplicates. 

We  raise  our  father's  banner  that  it  may  bring  back  better 
blessings  than  those  of  old  ;  that  it  may  restore  lawful 
government,  and  a  prosperity  purer  and  more  enduring 
than  that  which  it  protected  before  ;  that  it  may  win  parted 
friends  from  their  alienation  ;  that  it  may  inspire  hope,  and 
inaugurate  universal  liberty  ;  that  it  may  say  to  the  sword, 
**  Return  to  thy  sheath,"  and  to  the  plow  and  sickle,  "  Go 
forth  ";  that  it  may  heal  all  jealousies,  unite  all  policies, 
inspire  a  new  national  life,  compact  our  strength,  purify 
our  principles,  ennoble  our  national  ambitions,  and  make 
this  people  great  and  strong,  not  for  aggression  and  quarrel- 
someness, but  for  the  peace  of  the  world,  giving  to  us  the 
glorious  prerogative  of  leading  all  nations  to  juster  laws,  to 
more  humane  policies,  to  sincerer  friendship,  to  rational, 
instituted  civil  liberty,  and  to  universal  Christian  brother- 
hood. 

Reverently,  piously,  in  hopeful  patriotism,  we  spread  this 
banner  on  the  sky,  as  of  old  the  bow  was  planted  on  the 
cloud  ;  and  with  solemn  fervor  beseech  God  to  look  upon 
it,  and  make  it  the  memorial  of  an  everlasting  covenant 
and  decree  that  never  again  on  this  fair  land  shall  a  deluge 
of  blood  prevail. 


The  Struggle  for  the  Flag's  Supremacy. — When 
the  fearful  prelude  of  civil  war  was  sounded,  and  the  guns 
upon  Sumter  announced  to  the  world  that  the  old  flag  had 
been  insulted,  these  valiant  men,  loving  their  country,  and 
kindred  or  comrade,  alone  entered  the  chilly  flood  !  Some 
appreciating  the  worth  of  the  Union  with  a  devotion  worthy 
of  American  citizens,  rushed  to  the  rescue,  snatched  the 
emblem  of  freedom  from  the  enemy  and  restored  it  to  the 
ramparts  of  our  broad  domain,  "  not  a  stripe  erased,  not  a 
star  obscured,"  and  three  hundred  thousand  of  these 
citizen  soldiers  sealed  their  patriotism  with  their  lives  ;  to 
whom  not  only  this  generation,  not  only  this  age  are 
indebted,  but  all  future  generations  and  future  ages  ! 

J.  C.    PETERSON,    MARSHALL,  MICH. 

The  Soldier's  Devotion  to  the  Flag.— The  devo- 
tion  of  the  soldiers  to  the  cause  was  equal,  if  not  more  than 
equal  to  the  history  of  ancient  or  modern  warfare.  Instances 
of  the  most  thrilling  interest  were  witnessed.  Said  a  man 
wounded  in  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg  :  *'  Boys,  I  am 
shot,  don't  wait  for  me  ;  just  open  the  folds  of  the  old  flag, 
let  me  see  it  once  more,"  and  while  the  film  of  death  was 
on  his  eye,  he  caught  it  in  his  hand,  pressed  it  to  his  lips, 
and  under  the  booming  of  cannon  and  fire  of  musketry, 
the  noble  spirit  of  Captain  Perry  sought  a  fairer,  purer  sky. 

He  sleeps  his  last  sleep,  he  has  fought  his  last  battle, 
No  sound  can  awake  him  to  glory  again. 

DR.    H.    C.    VOGELL,  RALEIGH,    N.    C. 

The  Flag  the  Synonym  of  Freedom  Everywhere.— 
We  emerge  from  the  war  on  to  a  higher  plane  of  civilization. 
Our  flag  is  a  synonym  of  freedom  everywhere.  Through- 
out all  our  broad  land  there  breathes  not  a  slave.  In  truth, 
now  is  our  starry  banner  the  emblem  of  liberty  and  equal 
rights  to  all  men.  We  start  on  a  new  career  of  progress 
and  prosperity;  and  founded  as  we  are  upon  these 
eternal  immutable  principles  of  justice  and   freedom,  the 


3o8 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


power  and  position,  the  honor  and  glory  to  which  we  may 
attain  as  a  nation,  no  mind  can  conceive  or  compute. 

GEN.    H.    L.    BURNETT,    CINCINNATI,    O. 

The  Flag  Floats  Over  an  Undivided  Land. — To- 
day the  flag  of  our  country  floats  over  a  land  undivided,  a 
Union  saved,  a  government  vindicated,  a  people  free.  As 
it  waves  above  us  in  the  calm  atmosphere  of  peace,  it  seems 
transfigured  by  the  mighty  deeds  that  shed  upon  it  unfading 
glory,  and  clothe  it  with  an  influence  that  shall  one  day 
loose  the  bands  of  despotism  in  other  lands  than  ours,  and 
open  the  gates  of  power  throughout  the  world  to  the  tri- 
umphant march  of  human  freedom. 

J.    M.    CRAVETH,    LANSING,    MICH. 

The  Cost  of  Maintaining  the  Flag. — The  cost  of 
maintaining  the  supremacy  of  the  flag  during  the  four 
years  of  1861-65  is  partially  shown  by  the  following 
statistics  : 

The  War  of  the  Rebellion  cost  the  United  States,  including 
all  expenses  growing  out  of  it,  $6,189,929,908.58. 

Total  number  of  troops,  regular  and  volunteer,  enrolled 
for  the  Union  was  2,859,132. 

Number  killed  in  battle,  61,362. 

Died  of  wounds,  34,727. 

Total  number  of  lives  given  up  in  defense  of  the  flag, 
*'  from  which  their  blood  has  washed  the  black  stain  of 
slavery  and  made  it  the  cleanest  and  brightest  of  all  the 
national  emblems  of  the  earth,"  was  483,765. 

No  record  could  be  made  of  the  sorrow  and  anguish  of 
the  wives,  mothers,  sisters,  and  sweethearts  of  those  who 
went  to  the  front,  or  of  the  sufferings  and  hardships  endured 
by  the  '*  Boys  in  Blue." 

a.  SHIRLEY  LADD. 

If  anyone  attempts  to  pull  down  the  American  flag, 
shoot  him  on  the  spot.  john  a.  dix. 


FLAG-RAISING  DAY. 


309 


The  Maintainance  of  the  Flag  Due  to  the  Sola 
DiERs'  Bravery. — The  flag  that  floats   above  us,  whose 
every  fold  is  suggestive  of  the  noble  actions  of  those  whom 
we  now  honor,  whose  every  star  is  only  one  more  gem  saved  \ 
to   adorn  these  shrines,  whose   every   rustling   breeze,  the , 
security  their  sacrifices  have  rendered  to  it,  are  all  combined! 
to  make  the  memory  of  this  day  a  treasure  to  be  cherished, 
honored,  and  revered. 

major  J.  B.  THOMAS,  DAYTON,  O. 

The  American  Flag  without  a  Rival. — In  all  the 
world  there  is  not  such  another  flag,  that  carries  within  its 
ample  folds  such  grandeur  of  hope,  such  soul-inspiring 
emanations  of  hope,  as  our  dear  old  American  flag,  made  by 
and  for  liberty,  nourished  in  its  spirit,  and  carried  in  its 
service  ;  its  priceless  value  cannot  be  estimated,  wherever 
our  flag  has  gone  it  has  been  the  herald  of  a  better  day  ;  it 
has  been  the  pledge  of  freedom,  justice,  order,  civilization, 
and  of  Christianity. 

J.  c.  J.  langbien. 

The  Battle-Flags  Proclaim  Union  Only. — Let  the 
battle-flag  of  our  brave  volunteers  which  they  brought  home 
from  the  war,  with  the  glorious  record  of  their  victories,  be 
preserved  as  a  proud  ornament  in  our  State  Houses  and 
armories — but  let  the  colors  of  the  army  under  which  the 
sons  of  all  the  States  are  to  meet  and  mingle  in  common 
patriotism  speak  of  nothing  but  union. 

carl  schurz. 

The  Flag  Must  not  be  Torn  by  Traitor's  Hands. — 
May  the  "  heavens  be  rolled  together  as  a  scroll  "  before 
its  blue  field  shall  be  torn  out  by  traitor's  hands  ;  and  the 
"  stars  of  heaven  fall  as  a  fig-tree  casteth  her  untimely  figs  " 
before  a  *'  star  of  its  glory  grow  dim."  * 

Long  may  it  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave. 

LIEUT.  A.  H.  WHITE,  WHITINSVILLE,  MASS. 


310 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


FLAG-RAISING  DAY. 


3^1 


The  Oi.d  Flag  above  All  Others. — Let  no  one  run 
the  red  flag  of  anarchism  over  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  neither 
let  anyone  run  the  Stars  and  Stripes  over  the  red  flag. 
The  two  must  never  have  any  sort  of  union.  Anarchism 
must  not  take  the  American  republic  under  its  protection, 
neither  must  the  American  republic  take  anarchism  under 
its  protection.  We  are  living  in  a  day  when  our  country 
needs  above  all  things  intense  Americans,  who  will  Amer- 
icanize every  foreign  thing,  and  will  on  no  account  allow 
America  to  be  foreignized.  Our  fathers  and  brothers  died 
for  our  country  ;  it  is  our  duty  to  live  for  it.  We  must  pay 
a  price  as  they  paid  a  price.  The  price  which  we  must  pay 
for  liberty  is  a  pure  manhood  and  an  eternal  vigilance. 
The  monument  which  I  wduld  place  by  the  graves  of  our 
noble  dead  would  be,  not  a  cold  marble  statue,  but  an  hon- 
orable, wide-awake,  honest,  intelligent,  moral,  God-fearing 
American  citizen.  david  gregg,  d.  d. 

It  was  God  Almighty  who  nailed  our  flag  to  the  flag- 
staff, and  I  could  not  have  lowered  it  if  I  had  tried. 

MAJOR    ROBERT    ANDERSON. 

My  only  defense  is  the  flag  of  my  country,  and  I  place 
myself  under  its  folds.  j.   r.   pqinsett. 

The  American    flag  must   wave   over   States,   not  over 
Provinces.  rutherford  b.  haves. 

This  flag  is  an  emblem  to  represent  the  birth  of  a  free 
nation.  MRS.  Elizabeth  ross. 

One  flag,  one  land,  one  heart,  one  hand, 
One  nation  evermore. 

o.  w.  holmes. 

We  join  ourselves  to  no  party  that  does  not  carry  the 
flag,  and  keep  step  to  the  music  of  the  Union. 

rufus  choate. 


THE    AMERICAN    FLAG. 

JOSEPH   RODMAN   DRAKE. 

When  Freedom  from  her  mountain  height 

Unfurled  her  standard  to  the  air. 
She  tore  the  azure  robe  of  night, 

And  set  the  stars  of  glory  there. 
She  mingled  with  its  gorgeous  dyes 
The  milky  baldric  of  the  skies, 
And  striped  its  pure  celestial  white 
With  streakings  of  the  morning  light ; 
Then,  from  his  mansion  in  the  sun. 
She  called  her  eagle  bearer  down. 
And  gave  into  his  mighty  hand 
The  symbol  of  her  chosen  land. 
Majestic  monarch  of  the  cloud. 

Who  rear'st  aloft  thy  regal  form, 
To  hear  the  tempest  trumpings  loud 
And  see  the  lightning  lances  driven. 

When  strive  the  warriors  of  the  storm. 
And  rolls  the  thunder  drum  of  heaven — 
Child  of  the  sun  !  to  thee  'tis  given 

To  guard  the  banner  of  the  free  ; 
To  hover  in  the  sulphur  smoke, 
To  ward  away  the  battle  stroke  ; 
And  bid  its  blendings  shine  afar, 
Like  rainbows  on  the  cloud  of  war. 

The  harbingers  of  victory  ! 
Flag  of  the  brave  !  thy  folds  shall  fly. 
The  sign  of  hope  and  triumph  high. 

When  speaks  the  signal  trumpet  tone. 
And  the  long  line  comes  gleaming  on. 
Ere  yet  the  life  blood,  warm  and  wet. 
Has  dimmed  the  glistening  bayonet. 


312  THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 

Each  soldier  eye  shall  brightly  turn 
To  where  the  sky-born  glories  burn, 
And,  as  his  springing  steps  advance, 
Catch  war  and  vengeance  from  the  glance. 

And  when  the  cannon  mouthings  lotid    • 
Heave  in  wild  wreaths  the  battle  shroud. 
And  gory  sabers  rise  and  fall 
Like  shoots  of  flame  in  midnight's  pall, 
Then  shall  thy  meteor  glances  glow. 

And  cowering  foes  shall  shrink  beneath 
Each  gallant  arm  that  strikes  below 

That  lovely  messenger  of  death. 

Flag  of  the  seas,  on  ocean  wave 
Thy  stars  shall  glitter  o'er  the  brave, 
When  death  careering  on  the  gale 
Sweeps  darkly  round  the  bellied  sail. 
And  frighted  waves  rush  wildly  back 
Before  the  broadside's  reeling  rack  ; 
Each  dying  wanderer  of  the  sea 
Shall  look  at  once  to  heaven  and  thee, 
And  smile  to  see  thy  splendor  fly 
In  triumph  o'er  his  closing  eye. 

Flag  of  the  free  heart's  hope  and  home, 
By  angel  hands  to  valor  given, 
Thy  stars  have  lit  the  welkin  dome 

And  all  thy  hues  were  born  in  heaven. 
Forever  float  that  standard  sheet  ! 

Where  breathes  the  foe,  but  falls  before- us! 
With  Freedom's  soil  beneath  our  feet 

And  Freedom's  banner  streaming  o'er  us. 


FOREFATHERS'  DAY. 


Historical. — The  Pilgrim  Fathers  who  landed  from  the  May- 
flower on  Plymouth  Rock,  "  the  rock  bound  coast,"  of  Massachu- 
setts, December  21,  1620,  are  often  designated  "forefathers," 
especially  by  New  England  peoi)le.  This  colony  chiefly  belonged 
to  a  company  of  people  originating  in  Yorkshire,  England,  who 
dissented  from  the  polity  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  sought 
exemption  from  religious  persecution  by  passing  a  period  of  exile 
in  Holland,  but  who  embarked  on  September  6,  1620  (O.  S.),  from 
Delft  Haven  in  south  Holland,  and  set  sail  from  Plymouth,  Eng- 
land, in  the  ship  Mayflower  of  180  tons  burden,  to  find  a  home 
in  America  where  they  could  "  worship  God  according  to  the 
dictates  of  their  own  conscience."  This  company  consisted  of 
loi  men,  women,  and  children.  On  November  9,  they  reached 
Cape  Cod  and  anchored  in  the  roadstead  off  Provincetown.  They 
had  intended  to  make  their  land  fall  further  south,  within  the  juris- 
diction of  the  Virginia  Company  which  had  granted  them  a  patent, 
but  stress  of  weather  prevented  them  from  doing  so.  Finding  them- 
selves without  warrant  in  a  region  beyond  their  patent,  they  drew 
up  and  signed,  before  landing,  a  compact  of  government  which  is 
accounted  the  earliest  written  constitution  in  American  history. 
They  also  elected  John  Carver  governor  for  one  year.  After  some 
exploration  of  the  coast  with  the  object  of  fixing  on  a  suitable  place 
for  founding  a  settlement,  they  made  a  permanent  landing  at 
Plymouth,  a  place  already  so  named  on  Smith's  map  in  1616.  Jn 
four  months  nearly  one-half  the  colonists  died  from  exposure  to 
the  cold  and  the  lack  of  wholesome  food.  Shortly  after  landing, 
they  entered  into  a  treaty  of  peace  with  the  Indian  chief,  Massasoit, 
and  his  tribe,  which  remained  unbroken  for  a  long  time.  Through 
the  influence  of  Captain  Miles  Standish  the  disputes  with  other 
tribes  were  soon  settled.  In  the  spring  of  162 1  the  Mayflower 
returned  to  England,  and  soon  afterward  Governor  Carver  died 
and  was  succeeded  by  William  Bradford,  with  Isaac  Allerton  as 
assistant. 

During  the  next  two  years  the  colonists  endured  many  priva- 
tions, but  in  1623  they  were  relieved  by  a  bountiful  harvest.  The 
plan  of  property  in  common  which  they  had  adopted  at  first  was 
now  abandoned.  In  1622,  a  Mr.  Weston  of  London  who  had  been 
connected  with  the  Plymouth  colonists  obtained  a  patent  and 
founded  a  new  settlement  in  Wessaguesset,  now  Weymouth.  The 
Plymouth  Colony  failed  to  obtain  a  patent  and  was  forced  to  carry 
on  its  government  independently  of  the  royal  sanction.    This  they 

31S 


3i6 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


FOREFATHERS'  DAY. 


317 


did,  however,  with  perfect  success,  upon  a  plan  not  unworthy  of  the 
democracy  of  a  later  time,  since  the  right  of  the  people  to  govern 
themselves  was  fully  recognized.  A  subsequent  grant  from  the 
council  of  New  England,  upon  whose  territory  they  were,  confirmed 
to  them  a  tract  of  land  which  at  present  corresponds  to  the  south- 
east section  of  the  State.  They  maintained  their  existence  as  a 
colony,  though  never  having  a  charter  direct  from  the  crown,  till 
1691,  when  under  what  is  termed  the  Provincial  charter  Plymouth 
Colony  was  annexed  to  Massachusetts. 


THE   BENEFITS   OF   ITS   OBSERVANCE. 

EX-JUDGE    RUSSELL. 

We  are  celebrating  the  anniversary  of  the  landing  of  the 
Pilgrim  Fathers  upon  Plymouth  Rock  and  the  anniversary 
of  the  founding  of  this  society.  Our  jealous  sisters  have 
sometimes  said,  "  How  few  they  were  who  landed  and  how 
numerous  they  have  become";  and  observing  the  enthu- 
siasm  and  eclat  with  which  our  annual  festivities  have  been 
celebrated,  they  seemed  to  say  that  the  arrival  of  the  Pil- 
grims had  been  in  New  York  and  not  on  Plymouth  Rock. 
Far  be  it  from  us  to  detract  from  the  merits  of  our  ances- 
tors. We  are  at  least  ready  to  admit  that  in  this  great 
grab-bag— this  cosmopolitan  grab-bag— our  Yankee  fore- 
fathers, our  immediate  forefathers,  have  exhibited  a  length 
of  arm  and  a  discrimination  of  touch  and  grip  quite  equal 
to  that  of  the  persons  whom  they  found  here,  or  any  other 
race  who  have  come  here  and  taken  part  with  them  in  that 
universal  grab.  But,  gentlemen,  if  we  honor  the  acorn, 
we  need  not  necessarily  detract  from  the  oak  which  we 
are  ourselves.  We  can  properly  and  justly  look  for  our 
immediate  progenitors— at  least  those  of  us  who  were 
born  in  New  York  of  New  England  parents— to  the  great 
people  whose  splendid  past  and  brilliant  present  are  but 
the  harbingers  of  a  more  magnificent  future. 

They  never  thought  how  clear  a  light 

With  years  should  gather  round  this  day; 

How  love  should  keep  their  memories  bright ; 
How  wide  a  realm  their  sons  should  sway. 


I  have  sometimes  thought  that  if  this  anniversary  dinner 
furnished  no  more  than  an  occasion  for  friends,  old  and 
young,  derived  from  the  same  common  stock,  to  meet 
together  and  dine  together  and  pay  commemorative  honors 
to  their  ancestry,  and  so  weld  anew  the  bond  of  kinship, 
it  would  be  an  occasion  worthy  to  be  perpetuated,  but  it 
has  a  deeper  and  wider  significance.  As  Mecca  is  to  the 
Mohammedan  and  Jerusalem  to  the  Christian,  so  we 
make  our  pilgrimage  to-night  to  Plymouth  Rock,  hoping 
that  as  we  lay  our  tribute  upon  that  hill,  we  shall  gird  up 
our  loins  to  meet  the  fortunes,  the  successes,  the  trials, 
and  the  duties  that  are  before  us. 

New   occasions  teach    new  duties ;    time   makes    ancient    good 

uncouth ; 
He  must  upward  still  and  onward  who  would   keep  abreast  of 

truth. 

It  is  a  great  satisfaction  to  me,  gentlemen,  to  be  able  to 
assure  you  that  we  are  on  the  most  friendly  terms  with  all 
our  sister  societies.  You  may  wonder  how  in  the  world  we 
do  it,  but  we  do.  As  Zachary  Taylor  said  in  his  first  mes- 
sage, ♦'  we  are  at  peace  with  all  the  world  and  the  rest  of 
mankind."  We  have  enjoyed  their  hospitality  and  have 
felt  no  less  enjoyment  in  extending  to  them  ours.  Some- 
times a  little  wayward,  our  sisters  are  sometimes  a  little 
jealous,  but  they  unite  in  celebrating  the  virtues  of  your 
ancestors  with  a  heartiness  only  equaled  by  that  with  which 
in  turn  I  in  your  behalf  shall  unite  in  celebrating  the  sturdy 
virtues  of  the  stock  from  which  they  sprung. 

When  England's  prince  brought  home  a  fair  young  bride 
from  Denmark,  whose  beauty  and  bright  smile  won  what 
the  sword  of  the  conqueror  could  never  win,  the  admiring 
and  loving  loyalty  of  a  great  people,  England's  poet 
laureate  sang  : 

Englishmen,  Scotchmen,  and  Welshmen  are  we, 
But  we  are  all  Danes  in  welcome  to  thee, 

Alexandra. 


"\ 


3i8 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASIOI^T. 


FOREFATHERS'  DAY. 


319 


So  I  may  say  in  your  name  that  English  and  Scotch  and 
Irish  and  French  and  Dutch  and  German  are  we  who  take 
an  honest  pride  in  our  ancestry.  We  love  to  tell  the  story 
of  their  lives,  to  boast  ever  of  their  great  virtues  and  heroic 
deeds,  but  the  bright  goddess  of  our  love  is  the  land  which 
they  peopled,  the  nation  which  they  founded,  the  free  and 
happy  America  which  they  have  given  as  a  heritage  to  us 
and  to  our  children. 


THE  DEBT  WE  OWE  TO  THE  DUTCH. 

REV.   DAVID   GREGG,  D.   D. 

The  greatness  of  "  the  fathers  is  the  explanation  of  our 
rapid  growth  and  the  secret  of  our  political  power."  You 
cannot  explain  this  age  and  leave  out  of  sight  the  back  age. 
Take  the  fifty  years  prior  to  the  settlement  of  those  Ameri- 
can colonies,  which  were  the  most  mighty  and  the  most 
permanent — the  Jamestown  Colony,  the  Colony  of  New  York 
Bay,  Plymouth  Colony,  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  ;  take 
the  first  fifty  years  prior  to  the  day  the  first  English  ship, 
the  Godspeed,  sailed  up  the  Potomac,  prior  to  the  day  the 
/r-;?//^J/^^«  stopped  at  Manhattan  Island  and  explored  the 
Hudson,  prior  to  the  day  the  Mayflower  landed  at  Plymouth 
Rock,  and  then  add  the  fifty  years  after,  the  years  of  the 
first  struggle  of  the  new  and  daring  colonies,  which  takes 
us  to  the  close  of  Cromwell's  commonwealth  and  to  the 
hour  when  Peter  Stuyvesant  surrendered  New  Amsterdam 
to  the  forces  of  New  England. 

Take  this  century  which  I  have  now  indicated  into  the 
account  and  you  can  explain  the  American  republic.  Of 
the  birth  and  death  within  it  of  the  men  noted  in  music, 
the  sciences,  art,  inventions,  and  statesmanship.  Of  the 
discoveries  of  the  telescope,  microscope,  thermometer, 
barometer,  air  pump,  the  circulation  of  blood,  and  the  nature 
and  use  of  electricity.  In  taking  up  the  story  of  our  Dutch 
progenitors,  I  notice  at  the  very  start  that  there  are  new 


claims  being  made  to-day  on  behalf  of  the  Dutch.  Ameri- 
can history  is  being  rewritten.  New  research  is  being  made 
to  find  the  origin  of  our  civic  institutions.  Anglomania,  if 
it  had  the  opportunity,  would  warp  all  American  history,  so 
as  to  secure  the  laudation  of  the  English  over  the  just  claims 
of  all  other  nations,  especially  the  Dutch.  The  writings  of 
Washington  Irving  made  the  Dutch  the  victims  of  a  carica- 
ture which  captivated  the  fancy  of  the  world,  a  travesty 
which  has  stood  in  the  way  of  real  and  true  history.  Too 
much  precedence,  has  been  given  to  the  Puritanism  and 
heroism  of  New  England.  American  history  has  been  too 
largely  written  from  the  English  standpoint.  Let  us  divide 
honors  all  around  and  give  all  of  our  forefathers  their  share. 
England  was  not  the  first  to  lead  Europe.  It  was  the 
Dutch  republic  that  first  led  Europe.  It  taught  what  true 
liberty  was.  The  entire  war  of  Holland  with  Spain  was 
a  Puritan  war,  a  war  for  freedom.  Three-quarters  of  a 
century  this  war  raged.  In  this  war  Holland  permitted 
thousands  of  English  soldiers  to  fight.  English  soldiers 
came  into  her  army  monarchists  and  left  it  republicans  and 
went  home  to  spread  republican  ideas.  For  two  centuries 
and  a  quarter  the  territory  which  the  hardy  Hollanders 
took  from  the  Haarlem  Sea  and  the  Zuvder  Zee  stood  first  in 
civilization.  It  commanded  the  markets  of  the  world  and 
the  oceans  of  the  world  and  the  commerce  of  the  world  and 
the  manufactures  of  the  world  and  the  gold  of  the  world. 
It  was  the  great  intellectual  and  institutional  storehouse  of 
the  world.     These  are  undisputed  historical  facts. 

But  our  object  now  is  to  look  especially  at  what  Hol- 
land did  for  England,  and  especially  that  part  of  England 
which  sent  us  the  Pilgrims  and  the  Puritans.  It  was  the 
first  to  give  the  English  speaking  people  the  Bible  in  their 
own  tongue.  The  first  complete  English  Bible  in  print 
was  the  work  of  Miles  Coverdale,  who  was  employed  to 
make  the  translation  by  Jacob  Van  Meteren  of  Antwerp. 
The  translation  was  from  the  Dutch  and  Latin  and  was 
printed  in  Antwerp,  and  sent  across  the  Channel  by  Van 


,^ 


320 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


FOREFATHERS'   DAY. 


321 


Meteren,  to  use  his  own  words,  "  for  the  advancement  of 
the  religion  of  Christ  in  England."  There  was  no  country 
so  saturated  with  Bible  ideas  as  was  Holland,  and  this  fact 
accounts  for  the  political  energy  of  the  Dutch.  Under 
the  persecution  of  Philip  II.  and  the  Duke  of  Alva  one 
hundred  thousand  Hollanders  crossed  the  Channel  and 
made  their  homes  in  the  eastern  and  southern  counties  of 
England.  What  a  power  this  must  have  been  in  England. 
These  one  hundred  thousand  came  from  a  land  of  public 
schools  and  universities.  Each  man  brought  his  Bible, 
which  he  could  read  for  himself  and  for  his  neighbor. 
They  were  not  paupers  seeking  alms  ;  they  were  industri- 
ous, self-supporting  men,  scholars,  bankers,  manufacturers, 
merchants  ;  all  of  them  were  freemen,  refugees  for  free- 
dom's sake  and  for  conscience'  sake.  They  were  men, 
grand  men  and  brave  men  ;  men  constructed  out  of  the 
very  prodigality  of  nature.  They  were  massive  in  intellect 
and  in  soul.  Never  in  all  the  history  of  the  world  was  there 
such  another  missionary  movement  on  such  a  magnificent 
scale.  They  taught  England  commerce,  education,  agri- 
culture, banking,  the  trades,  morals,  republican  politics,  and 
above  all  the  true  religion.  Their  daily  life  was  a  sermon 
on  Christian  virtue  and  temperance  and  chastity.  It  was 
out  of  these  counties  that  the  university  of  Cambridge 
arose,  that  educational  center  of  broad  thought  and  puritan- 
ism  which  gave  America  the  first  scholars  and  leaders  of 
New  England.  Above  all  it  was  from  out  these  counties, 
impressed  by  Dutch  ideas  and  principles  and  filled  with 
Dutch  blood  by  intermarriage,  that  with  the  great  exodus 
to  America  came  the  Puritan  exodus  which  made  New 
England  what  it  has  been.  This  is  one  of  the  ways 
Holland  has  all  along  been  a  builder  of  America. 

Brooklyn  Daily  Eagle. 


OUR  NEW  ENGLAND  FOREFATHERS. 

REV.  H.  L.  WAYLAND,  D.  D. 

I  DO  not  hesitate  to  say,  upon  a  broad  and  impartial  sur- 
vey of  the  situation,  that  the  fathers  of  New  England  were 
the  most  selfish  and  grasping  set  of  men  of  whom  history 
has  any  record.  They  wanted  the  best  of  everything,  and 
all  there  was  of  it. 

Take,  for  example,  the  matter  of  ancestors.  Many  of  us 
have  to  be  satisfied  with  such  ancestors  as  we  have.  But 
they  demanded  something  better.  They  insisted  on  having 
all  the  good  and  great  men  that  had  ever  lived.  They 
began  far  back.  Moses  and  Joshua  and  Samuel  were  Puri- 
tans in  their  reverent  regard  for  rigorous  righteousness. 
As  for  King  David,  he  was  something  of  a  Puritan,  but  also 
a  good  deal  of  a  cavalier.  Through  all  the  line  of  his 
descendants,  the  same  mixed  character  prevailed,  as  some- 
times the  one,  and  sometimes  the  other,  came  uppermost. 
Elijah,  rebuking  kings  to  their  face  ;  Jeremiah  in  the  dun- 
geon;  John  the  Baptist,  the  great  souled  apostle  who 
reasoned  of  righteousness,  temperance,  and  judgment, 
before  the  corrupt  governor  ;  the  prophets  who  have  loved 
truth  more  than  favor— all  these,  the  early  New  Englanders 
coveted  for  their  ancestors. 

Through  the  Christian  centuries,  wherever  there  were 
brave  souls  that  testified  for  righteousness  ''  till  persecution 
chased  them  up  to  heaven,"  among  the  Alps  of  Piedmont, 
in  the  Grassmarket  at  Edinburgh,  at  Smithfield,  in  Paris, 
as  the  great  bell  was  ushering  in  the  Eve  of  St.  Bartholo- 
mew, there  were  the  spiritual  ancestors  of  the  Puritans. 

They  drew  their  blood  from  the  fellows  of  the  immortal 
man,  who,  in  the  days  of  Elizabeth  (misnamed  the  Good), 
after  his  right  hand  had  been  chopped  off  upon  the  scaffold, 
waved  the  left  above  his  head,  shouting  for  England  and 
liberty.  The  fathers  of  these  men  were  on  the  gallant 
little  fleet  which  begun  the  annihilation  of  the  Armada,  and 
made  liberty  a  possibility,  as  the  Mayflower  made  it  a  reality. 


322 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


But  the  Puritans  were  not  satisfied  with  the  past.  With 
the  insatiate  greed  of  a  millionaire,  they  wanted  the  future 
as  well.  And  so  they  got  possession,  somehow,  of  all  the 
principles  which  would  in  coming  time  be  held  in  reverence. 
They  believed  in  the  existence  of  right  and  wrong,  and  in 
the  infinite  supremacy  of  righteousness.  They  believed  in 
the  intense  reality  of  God  and  of  the  unseen  and  the 
spiritual  ;  they  held  that  these  were  the  real,  and  that 
everything  else  was  the  shadow.  They  held  that  some 
things  are  true,  and  that  some  things  are  not  true  ;  that 
truth  and  right  are  above  thrones,  are  above  even  the 
majority  dear  to  the  American  heart. 

They  believed  in  man  as  above  institutions,  above  real 
estate,  above  stocks.  They  believed  that  greatness  is 
immaterial ;  that  the  greatness  of  a  state,  of  a  city,  does 
not  lie  in  its  acreage,  nor  in  the  assessors'  books.  They 
got  a  mortgage  on  all  these  principles,  and  from  age  to 
age  they  have  been  foreclosing. 

Come  with  me  to  the  heart  of  New  England.  Let  us  go 
down  into  Middlesex.  Here  is  a  village  which  the  census 
credits  with  two  thousand  five  hundred  inhabitants.  The 
soil  is  thin  and  scanty  ;  there  is  no  traffic  ;  there  are  no 
manufactories.  A  small  sluggish  stream  flows  through  the 
quiet  village  ;  the  houses  are  plain,  redeemed  from  bare- 
ness only  by  the  touches  of  good  taste.  Just  before  we 
cross  the  little  stream,  we  notice  a  simple  monument  in  the 
middle  of  the  way  ;  on  it  we  read  the  lines  that  have 
become  household  words  wherever  the  English  language  is 
spoken. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  bridge,  a  little  space  by  the  way- 
side is  protected  by  an  iron  railing  ;  an  inscription  tells  us 
that  here  lie  two  British  soldiers  who  fell  on  the  19th  of 
April,  1775.  As  we  draw  near  the  village,  you  ask,  "  What 
house  is  that  ?"  Why,  that  is  the  house  where  Mr.  Emer- 
son  framed  those  calm,  philosophical  sentences  that  have 
molded  character  all  over  the  world.  There  is  the  Old 
Manse  whose  "  Mosses  "  are  immortalized  by  the  magic  of 


FOREFA  THERS'  DA  Y. 


323 


Hawthorne,  and  from  that  plain  dwelling  (now,  alas  !  empty), 
standing  a  little  back  from  the  road,  Louisa  M.  Alcott  sent 
out  "  Little  Women  "  and  *'  Little  Men  "  to  charm  a  genera- 
tion of  young  people.  In  that  house  lives  E.  Rockwood 
Hoar,  wisest  and  purest  of  jurists,  and  therefore  not  con- 
firmed when  General  Grant  nominated  him  to  the  bench  of 
the  Supreme  Court.  "And  what  is  that  somewhat  peculiar 
structure  standing  in  the  center  of  an  unoccupied  field  ?  " 
Why,  that  is  the  School  of  Philosophy,  where,  through  the 
long  summer  days,  the  sages  assemble  to  exchange  lofty 
reflections  upon  the  relations  of  the  Inconceivable  and  the 
Non-Existent.  In  the  public  square  is  a  monument  in 
honor  of  the  sons  of  the  town  who  fell  in  the  Great  War. 
In  the  village  cemetery,  a  massive,  unhewn  bowlder  marks 
the  grave  of  that  son  of  nature,  Henry  D.  Thoreau,  and  in 
the  near  distance  Walden  Pond  glimmers  in  the  sun.  Else- 
where is  a  simple  shaft  over  one  who  died  in  the  hell  of 
Andersonville.  Underneath  his  name,  we  read  those  heart- 
rending words  of  the  lamenting  prophet  :  "  They  that  be 
slain  with  the  sword  are  better  than  they  that  be  slain  with 
hunger."  Weighed  in  scales  which  are  responsive  to  ideas 
and  to  high  inspirations,  this  village  is  greater  than  Baby- 
lon, greater  than  old  Rome. 

Not  satisfied  with  great  principles,  they  were  avaricious 
of  great  achievements.  They  subdued  forests,  organized 
emigration,  marched  westward  under  the  star  of  empire. 
They  achieved  Louisburg  and  Concord  and  Lexington,  and 
Paul  Revere's  Ride  and  the  Charter  Oak  and  Bennington 
and  Gaspee  Point,  and  Harvard  and  Yale  and  Bowdoin  and 
Dartmouth.  They  preserved  the  Union,  annihilated 
slavery,  crushed  repudiation,  made  the  promises  of  the 
nation  equal  to  gold.  They  have  spoken  the  word  of  pro- 
test and  pleading  in  behalf  of  the  Chinaman  and  the  Indian 
and  the  African,  in  behalf  of  a  reformed  civil  service,  and 
of  honest  elections.  And  where  has  there  been,  a  battle 
for  God  and  humanity,  that  they  and  their  sons  have  not 
been  in  it  ? 


324  THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 

AMERICA'S    DEBT  TO    HOLLAND. 

There  is  abroad  in  this  country,  especially  among  those 
who  have  never  come  into  immediate  contact  with  the 
descendants  of  the  early  Dutch  settlers,  and  who  have 
failed  to  read  Motley's  and  other  histories  of  Dutchland, 
an  impression  that  the  Hollanders  are,  and  have  always 
been,  a  stolid,  go-easy  sort  of  people,  with  but  little  enter- 
prise and  but  comparatively  little  intellectual  vigor.  But 
no  mistake  could  be  greater.  As  a  matter  of  truth,  Hol- 
land has  furnished  some  of  the  brightest  and  most  energetic 
men  of  modern  times,  and  is  an  intellectual  center  from 
which  have  radiated  beams  of  light  for  the  whole  earth. 
The  Rev.  Dr.  Blanchard  recently  delivered  a  lecture  in 
Portland,  Me.,  on  American  History,  in  which  he  gave 
some  account  of  Hollanders,  reported  by  the  Portland 
Daily  Press ^  as  follows  : 

**  Whoever  studied  the  history  of  Holland  is  filled  with 
admiration  for  the  character  of  its  people  and  with  amaze- 
ment at  the  greatness  of  their  achievements.  From  this 
little  country  has  gone  forth  a  love  of  liberty  and  an  instinct 
for  self-government  whose  powers  shall  have  no  end.  He 
described  the  country  in  the  time  of  Caesar,  with  its  girdle 
of  forests,  its  embankments  thrown  up  by  the  sea  ;  told 
briefly  the  story  of  the  various  rulers  ;  concentrated  atten- 
tion in  the  year  1555,  when  Charles  V.  abdicated  in  favor 
of  Philip  n.  ;  eulogized  the  magnificent  eighty  years  of 
battle  and  its  glorious  victory  for  freedom  ,  told  of  Ant- 
werp, of  Holland's  agricultural,  manufacturing,  and  com- 
mercial supremacy;  pictured  its  architecture  and  schools; 
showed  how  its  painters  and  musicians  were  foremost  in 
the  world.  Here  were  morality,  religion,  freedom,  and 
education.  In  contrast,  the  England  of  Elizabeth  w^as 
depicted,  with  its  queen  not  believing  in  education,  its 
people  wild  and  ignorant,  its  nobles  living  in  rooms  whose 
floors  were  covered  with  rushes  and  where  forks  were 
unknown.      Here   were   cringing   to   royalty,    immorality, 


FOREFATHERS'  DAY. 


325 


ignorance.     Not  from  England,  but  from  Holland,  came  to 
America  the  ideas  and  institutions  which  have  made  her  great. 

To  Holland  America  owes  her  written  constitution  ;  the 
limitation  of  the  power  of  the  President,  by  consent  of  the 
Senate,  in  making  war  and  declaring  peace,  her  Senate,  the 
written  constitutions  of  the  States,  the  freedom  of  religion, 
the  freedom  of  the  press,  the  wide  suffrage  and  written 
ballot.  To  her  also  America  owes  the  system  of  free 
schools,  the  independence  of  the  judiciary,  the  absence  of 
primogeniture,  the  liability  of  land  for  debt,  the  recording 
of  deeds  and  mortgages,  the  township  system,  the  district 
attorney,  the  right  of  accused  to  impartial  trial,  the  improve- 
ment of  the  condition  of  women,  the  improvement  of  the 
penal  system,  the  organization  of  our  charitable  and 
reformatory  work.  This  is  a  long  and  amazing  list.  .  .  . 
The  next  division  of  the  lecture  showed  who  they  were  by 
whom  these  things  were  brought  to  pass  in  America.  First 
of  all,  by  New  York,  in  1609,  which  was  ruled  in  accordance 
with  Dutch  laws  for  over  fifty  years.  Then  by  the  Pilgrims 
in  1620;  by  the  Puritans  in  1630  ;  by  Hooker  in  Connecti- 
cut;  by  Roger  Williams  in  Rhode  Island  ;  by  Penn  and 
the  Quakers  in  Pennsylvania  ;  and  by  the  Scotch-Irish  in 
the  Carolinas.  All  were  taught  by  Holland  and  not  by 
England.  This  was  a  marvelous  recital,  and  cannot  even 
be  outlined  in  a  newspaper  report. 

"The  last  division  of  the  lecture  then  emphasized  the 
fact  that  America  is  not  the  daughter  of  England,  but  of 
Holland,  appealed  strongly  for  a  renewed  study  of  the  facts 
presented  by  Mr.  Douglas  Campbell  in  his  'The  Puritan 
in  Holland,  England,  and  America,'  showed  how  England 
is  now  indebted  to  Holland,  and  finally  pleaded  for  an 
intelligent  and  passionate  love  of  country.  There  was  no 
opportunity  to  sing  America,  but  we  could  all  say,  God 
bless  the  history  of  the  Dutch  Republic,  and  grant  that  the 
present  kingdom  may  become  a  republic  once  more,  and 
help  America  gladly  to  acknowledge  its  debt  to  Holland." 

Herald  and  Presbyter. 


3^6 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


FOREFATHERS'  DAY. 


327 


OUR   DEBT   TO    PURITAN   AND    PILGRIM. 

The  theocratic  state  which  the  Puritans  founded  in 
Massachusetts  was  not  suited  to  our  present  civilization, 
with  its  representatives  of  all  nations  and  creeds.  But  it 
contained  the  springs  of  life  which  purify  our  civilization 
and  the  seeds  of  that  free  government  of  which  our  liberty 
under  law  is  the  fairest  fruit.  The  Pilgrims  and  the  Puri- 
tans were  essentially  one  people,  and  they  came  hither  with 
one  purpose — a  purpose  as  noble  and  important  as  that 
which  brought  the  Hebrews  to  Canaan.  They  did  not  seek 
to  establish  religious  liberty,  as  we  understand  it,  any  more 
than  the  Jews  sought  to  spread  their  religion  among  all 
nations.  They  did  not  intend  to  allow  anyone  to  be  a 
citizen  unless  he  was  in  their  view  a  regenerated  disciple  of 
Christ.  They  meant  the  new  England  to  be  to  Christians 
all  that  the  kingdom  of  David  was  to  the  Jews  in  their 
palmiest  days.  Their  idea  is  being  wrought  out  in  blessing 
to  the  world  as  different  from  their  plan  as  the  interpretation 
of  Jewish  prophecy  by  the  Jews  differed  from  its  fulfillment. 

But  while  the  Jews  repudiated  the  giving  of  their  religion 
to  the  nations,  the  Puritans  have  been  and  continue  to  be 
foremost  in  giving  their  gospel  to  mankind.  They  sought 
to  serve  God  with  all  their  hearts,  and  they  believed  that  in 
making  a  nation  he  could  use  as  freemen  only  those  who 
sought  to  serve  him  both  in  their  spirit  and  in  their  way. 
But  when  they  could  no  longer  carry  out  their  plan  for  a 
nation,  they  set  themselves  to  maintain  in  the  nation  they 
had  planted  the  ethical  impulse  which  brought  them  to 
these  shores  and  controlled  their  lives.  The  Puritan  idea 
of  society  is  that  of  immortal  souls  living  together,  for 
whom  Christ  died,  and  who  are  therefore  bound  together  for 
his  sake  to  help  one  another  to  live  like  him  that  they  may 
live  forever  with  him.  It  is  not  only  a  grand  and  holy 
ideal,  it  is  intensely  practical,  making  the  welfare  of  society 
consist  in  faithfulness  to  simple  daily  duties,  whose  doing 
for  love's  sake  is  essential  to  honor. 


The  Puritans  held  that  their  ideal  was  reasonable,  and 
that  no  one  could  seek  it  acceptably  to  God  unless  his  own 
reason  approved  of  it  and  impelled  him  to  do  it.  In  that 
principle  lay  the  certainty  that  in  the  issue  of  their  new 
state  would  be  the  religious  liberty  which  they  would  not 
themselves  allow.  They  believed,  and  truly,  that  the 
strength  of  Romanism  in  religion,  as  well  as  its  despotism 
in  politics,  lay  in  the  ignorance  of  the  people  ;  and  they 
sought  the  freedom  which  is  grander  than  they  knew  in  the 
education  of  all  the  people,  while  they  sought  to  inculcate  a 
sense  of  supreme  personal  obligation  to  God.  Hence  came 
free  churches  and  free  schools,  the  essential  elements  of  the 
free  state.  Hence  the  Puritan  aristocracy,  not  of  birth  but 
of  character,  became  the  American  Republic,  with  vitality 
to  assimilate  the  incoming  multitudes  of  all  nations,  with- 
out losing  its  virtue. 

But  to  this  great  end  the  Puritan  in  American  life  is  an 
abiding  necessity,  maintaining  his  influence,  not  primarily 
by  law,  but  by  the  authority  of  an  enlightened  public  con- 
science  illustrated  by  personal  integrity  and  self-sacrificing 
lives.  Wonderfully  have  the  Puritans  maintained  this 
influence  in  the  more  than  two  centuries  and  a  half  of  their 
existence  on  this  continent.  No  nation  since  the  days  of 
Israel  was  ever  founded  with  so  choice  people,  selected  by 
the  operation  of  so  high  and  spiritual  motives,  as  those 
whose  vanguard  was  borne  across  the  sea  in  the  Mayflower. 
It  was  truly  said  of  them  that  **  God  sifted  a  whole  nation 
that  he  might  send  choice  grain  into  the  wilderness."  For 
more  than  one  hundred  years  they  kept  unmixed  their  own 
nationality.  Even  up  to  the  time  of  the  War  of  the  Revolu- 
tion it  is  probable  that  ninety-eight  out  of  every  hundred 
in  New  England  were  Englishmen  or  their  descendants. 
Even  at  this  day  the  descendants  of  the  twenty-six  hundred 
New  Englanders  of  1640  number  nearly  one-fourth  of  the 
population  of  the  United  States. 

The  power  of  the  Puritan  is  not  waning  in  America. 
It  has  grown  more  enlightened  and  broad.     We  believe  it 


32§ 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASIO.V. 


is  destined  to  grow  more  kindly,  yet  more  intense.  The 
Puritan  spirit  of  to-day  is  the  spirit  of  freedom.  Every 
true  son  of  the  Puritans  will  honor  his  ancestry  by  pointing 
to  their  deeds  and  reproducing  their  lives.  The  Puritan 
in  America  to-day  can  exercise  greater  influence  than  any- 
where else  in  the  world. 

Congregatiotialist. 


FOREFATHERS'  DAY. 


REV.    DAVID   J.    BURRELL,    D.    D. 

Then  they  came,  the  sifted  peoples  of  the  Old  World,  the 
stuff  that  heroes  are  made  of,  Puritans  from  Old  England 
who  had  resisted  the  fires  of  Smithfield,  Huguenots  from 
France,  who  had  heard  from  their  fathers  about  St. 
Bartholomew's  Day,  the  ''  beggars "  of  Holland  racked 
with  fierce  struggle  against  tyranny,  the  Covenanters  of 
old  Scotland  from  their  conventicles  among  the  hills. 
That  migration  to  the  New  World  was  the  most  momentous 
the  world  had  known  since  Abraham  departed  out  of  the 
land  of  the  Chaldees  into  a  country  that  he  knew  not  of. 
God  had  fanned  the  threshing  floor  of  all  Europe  to  find 
this  wheat  for  the  planting  of  America.  This  was  the  land 
whereon  the  ultimate  problem  of  civilization  and  ecclesias- 
tical freedom  was  to  be  brought  to  a  glorious  consumma- 
tion. Men  of  independence,  integrity,  intelligence,  indus- 
try, courage,  and  broad-mindedness,  men  schooled  by  flame 
and  scourge,  men  who  hated  oppression  and  believed  in 
human  rights,  were  needed  for  it.  Poor,  but  independent, 
not  frilled  and  powdered,  but  armed  mightily  with  the  sword 
of  the  Spirit,  and  with  purpose  of  freedom  pulsating  at  the 
very  centers  of  their  hearts—these  were  the  men  whom 
God  had  chosen  for  the  settlement  of  this  land.  For  a 
hundred  years  he  had  kept  the  New  World  waiting  until 
they  should  be  ready  to  possess  it. 


FOREFATHERS'  DAY. 


329 


THE    ADVANTAGES    OF    A   MIXED    ANCESTRY. 

REV.    H.   J.    VAN    DYKE,    D.    D. 

There  is  a  phase  of  thought  which  ought  to  lead  us  at 
once  into  harmony  and  sympathy,  and  enable  us  all  to 
rejoice  together  in  honoring  famous  men  and  our  fathers 
that  begat  us.  I  allude  to  the  fact  that  Brother  Jonathan 
of  Plymouth  Rock  and  Cousin  Diedrich  of  Manhattan 
Island  have  been  happily  mixed  with  mutual  benefit.  It 
would  be  impossible  to  address  any  company  like  this  in 
New  York  City  without  remembering  that  the  blood  of  the 
Puritans  and  the  blood  of  the  Dutchmen— not  to  speak  of 
other  bloods— mingle  in  the  veins  of  the  audience,  even  as 
they  do  in  the  Jersey  mosquito. 

The  advantages  of  having  a  mixed  ancestry  are  numer- 
ous and  considerable.  In  the  first  place  it  gives  one  a 
liberal  choice  of  forefathers  and  foremothers.  No  respect- 
able  American  would  be  content  with  a  single  family  tree. 
He  likes  to  have  a  whole  orchard  of  them.  And  then  as 
the  different  anniversaries  come  around,  he  can  climb  up, 
like  Mr.  Depew,  into  the  most  appropriate  tree  and  cry, 
"  Hurrah  for  my  great-grandfather,"  and  shake  the  chest- 
nuts down  in  a  rattling  shower. 

A  rich  heritage  of  glorious  traditions  and  examples 
belongs  to  us.  There  is  hardly  a  great  nation  from  which 
we  have  not  inherited  something;  hardly  a  splendid 
achievement  of  the  sixteenth,  seventeenth,  and  eighteenth 
centuries,  in  which  we  cannot  claim  a  share.  The  dis- 
coveries of  Italian  and  Spanish  knights  errant  of  the  sea  ; 
the  triumphs  of  the  German  Reformation  ;  the  heroisms 
of  the  French  Huguenots  ;  the  daring  and  victorious 
battles  which  little  Holland  fought  against  the  world  for 
the  world's  liberty  ;  the  Commonwealth  of  the  English 
Puritans;  the  peaceful  resolutions  of  1688,  which  hurled 
the  treacherous  Stuarts  from  the  throne  and  set  the  great- 
grandson  of  William  of  Orange  at  the  head  of  England's, 


330 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION. 


FOREFA  THERS'  DA  K. 


33^ 


crowned  republic ;  the  successful  resistance  which  the 
peasants  of  Scotland  offered  to  prelatic  tyranny — a  thou- 
sand histories  of  dauntless  courage,  high  faith,  strenuous 
endeavor,  and  forever  memorable  victories  of  brave  spirits 
over  brute  force  are  ours  by  an  inalienable  birthright. 

We  the  heirs  of  all  the  ages  in  the  foremost  files  of  time. 

But  there  is  another  great  advantage  in  having  a  mixed 
ancestry.  If  the  elements  are  well  chosen  and  mingled 
under  propkious  influences,  the  result  is  likely  to  be  most 
favorable.  The  best  tea  is  a  blend.  The  finest  fruit  is 
produced  by  grafting.  The  strongest  and  most  vigorous 
stocks  are  those  in  which  the  excellences  of  different  races 
have  been  combined.  This  is  true,  you  know,  of  England, 
where  Celt  and  Dane,  Saxon  and  Norman  were  welded 
together  into  one  mighty  nation.  It  is  a  process  which  no 
human  wisdom  would  venture  to  undertake,  and  no  human 
strength  could  accomplish.  But  God  who  directs  the 
courses  of  history  can  carry  it  out  when  he  wishes,  and  he 
has  done  it  for  us. 

The  two  chief  elements  which  God  chose  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  his  purposes  in  this  land  were  originally  of 
the  same  great  Teutonic  family,  separated  for  a  few  cen- 
turies by  the  German  Ocean,  but  kindred  in  life,  in  lan- 
guage, and  in  love  of  liberty,  and  reunited  on  the  broad  shores 
of  this  New  World.  Brother  Jonathan  and  Cousin  Died- 
rich  have  done  more  than  any  other  men  for  the  foundation 
and  upbuilding  of  our  nation  ;  and  as  they  have  labored 
together,  they  have  become  one,  not  by  any  process  of  con- 
quest or  subjugation,  but  by  a  sort  of  mutual  permeation, 
and  interpenetration  as  a  process  of  **  gentle  absorption." 

Who  shall  say  that  both  had  not  gained  by  the  inter- 
course and  the  combination,  even  as  the  sharp  acid  of  the 
lemon  is  mollified,  and  the  heavy  sweetness  of  the  sugar  is 
enlivened,  when  they  meet  and  mingle  in  the  lemonade  ? 
Never  mind  which  was  the  lemon  and  which  was  the  sugar. 


It  will  do  us  no  harm  to  admit  that,  while  Jonathan 
and  Diedrich  were  both  perfect  of  their  kind — let  no 
man  say  a  word  against  them — they  were  both  of  a 
kind  which  is  capable  of  development,  strong  enough  to 
be  toned  down  and  toned  up  in  the  direction  of  the  golden 
mean. 

Each  had  something  to  gain  from  the  other.  Jonathan 
was,  perhaps,  a  little  too  sharp,  inclined  to  use  his  con- 
science as  a  weapon  of  offense,  ready  to  fight  on  any  point 
of  theology,  even  the  smallest,  and  to  enforce  his  argu- 
ments with  whips  and  faggots.  Diedrich  was,  perhaps,  a 
little  too  slow,  too  much  like  a  District  Messenger  boy, 
prone  to  take  his  ease,  to  let  things  slide,  to  trust  in  Provi- 
dence without  keeping  his  powder  dry.  Each  had  some- 
thing to  gain  from  the  other  ;  and  I,  for  one,  cannot  regret 
that  Providence  "  mixed  those  children  up,"  or  profess  to 
believe  that  the  former  times  were  better  than  the  present. 
On  the  contrary,  we  rejoice  in  the  results  of  time,  both  for 
the  Dutch  and  for  the  Dutchman. 

I  know  that  it  is  customary  at  these  dinners  for  devout 
men  to  carry  the  "  old-fashioned  man  of  God  "  to  his 
burial  with  great  lamentation,  and  fire  off  skyrockets  over 
his  grave.  The  chief  purpose  for  which  clergymen  are 
invited  to  the  feast  seems  to  be  to  wail  for  our  dear 
departed  brother  Praise-God  Barebones.  But  in  point  of 
fact  he  is  not  dead,  at  least  the  better  part  survives — 7wn 
omnisviortuus  est — and  for  the  worst  part  we  will  not  mourn. 
We  would  not  turn  back  the  hands  on  the  great  clock  of 
time.  We  would  not  restore  the  days  when  Sabbath-break- 
ing was  put  on  a  level  with  murder  ;  when  Christmas  was 
esteemed  a  heathenish  and  diabolical  festival  ;  when  minis- 
ters taught  that  unregenerate  infants  occupied  the  easiest 
room  in  hell  ;  and  when  a  man  was  liable  to  be  publicly 
whipped  for  saying  that  he  could  not  profit  by  their 
preaching. 

We  rejoice  that  intolerance  has  been  softened  by  liber- 
ality, and  that  indolence  has  been  quickened  by  energy.     I 


332 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASIOI^. 


POREFATHEkS'  DAY. 


333 


rejoice  that  the  bones  of  justice  have  been  clothed  with  the 
flesh  of  mercy.  I  rejoice  in  the  faith  that  it  is  possible 
for  a  man  to  believe  with  all  his  heart  in  his  own  religion, 
and  to  allow  every  other  man  the  same  liberty  ;  to  practice 
piety  without  persecution,  and  toleration  without  indiffer- 
ence, and  devotion  without  austerity,  and  liberty  without 
license  ;  to  love  his  God  no  less  truly  because  he  lives  with 
his  neighbor  more  cheerfully  and  kindly. 

But  let  us  not  forget  that  while  Jonathan  and  Diedrich 
differed  somewhat  in  matters  of  temper  and  social  conduct 
and  outward  appearance,  they  were  always  alike  in  their 
deepest  qualities  and  their  strongest  beliefs.  Christians  by 
conviction,  merchants  by  profession,  lovers  and  defenders 
of  freedom  with  every  drop  of  blood  in  their  hearts,  they 
were  well  fitted  to  join  in  the  establishment  of  a  nobler 
commonwealth  than  the  world  had  yet  seen.  The  founders 
of  Plymouth  set  up  a  religious  community  with  commercial 
purposes.  The  founders  of  New  Amsterdam  set  up  a 
commercial  community  with  religious  principles.  Both 
carried  the  same  Bible  and  worshiped  the  same  God  ; 
and  they  have  handed  down  to  us  traditions  of  religious 
fidelity  and  commercial  integrity  which  we  shall  do  well  to 
honor. 

Shall  we  be  ashamed  because  our  ancestors  were  trading 
colonists  ;  because  they  bought  and  sold  and  exchanged  the 
products  of  the  New  World  for  the  riches  of  the  Old  ? 
Nay,  rather  let  us  have  a  care  that  they  have  no  cause  to 
be  ashamed  of  us.  Let  us  see  to  it  that  amid  the  broaden- 
ing of  our  enterprises  and  the  increase  of  our  wealth,  we  do 
not  lose  those  principles  of  uprightness  and  strict  justice 
and  old-fashioned  honor  which  made  the  merchants  of  New 
York  and  New  England  respected  and  renowned.  Above 
all,  let  us  remember  with  pride  and  loyalty  that  we  are 
Americans. 

Brother  Jonathan  and  Cousin  Diedrich  founded  a  new 
nation,  able  to  stand  on  its  own  feet  and  light  its  own  fires 
and  wear  its  own  clothes.     America   is  neither  an  experi- 


I 


ment  nor  an  imitation.  There  is  no  necessity  for  us  to  turn 
up  our  trousers  in  Fifth  Avenue  because  it  is  muddy  in 
Piccadilly  ;  or  to  abolish  property  in  land  because  Ireland 
is  unhappy  ;  or  to  establish  a  Landwehr  because  France  is 
jealous  of  Germany.  We  have  our  own  history,  our  own 
traditions,  our  own  destiny  ;  and  that  destiny  is  not  to  be 
conformed  to  some  ancient  European  model,  or  remolded 
after  the  plan  of  some  crack-brained  fanatic  with  the  con- 
stitution of  a  secret  society  in  one  pocket  and  a  package  of 
dynamite  in  the  other  ;  but  to  work  out  our  own  salvation 
along  the  lines  which  our  forefathers  have  laid  for  us.  And 
those  lines  are  three — reverence  for  the  laws  of  God,  respect 
for    the   rights   of   property,  and    love   for  the   duties   of 

humanity. 

Whoever  will  accept  these  traditions  is  welcome; 
America  will  assimilate  him.  But  if  anyone  is  so  cheese- 
like that  he  refuses  to  be  digested,  he  had  better  stay  away. 
To  everyone  who  desires  either  to  create  new  destinctions 
in  a  silly  aristocracy  of  wealth  and  station,  or  to  abolish  all 
distinctions  in  the  Dead  Sea  of  Communism,  we  say  :  "  My 
friend,  this  climate  will  not  agree  with  you.  Go  and  make 
a  little  country  of  your  own.  Ours  is  too  young  to  be 
mummified  and  too  old  to  be  revolutionized." 

There  is  special  need  for  us  to  remember  our  American 
birthright  and  the  traditions  of  our  fathers  in  this  great  city, 
where  we  have  feeble  Anglomaniacs  on  the  one  hand  and 
furious  Communists  on  the  other,  and  a  great  mass  of  the 
rawest  kind  of  foreign  material  to  be  digested.  It  seems  a 
heavy  task.  But  if  the  children  of  Jonathan  and  Diedrich 
seem  to  us  few  in  number  compared  with  the  mass  of  the 
population,  let  us  remember  that  the  backbone  is  small  in 
proportion  to  the  rest  of  the  body,  and  yet  the  backbone 
carries  the  head  and  wags  the  tail.  Let  us  confide  in  the 
virtues  of  the  native  stock.  Let  us  choose  for  the  twin  sup- 
porters of  our  republican  shield  those  two  old-fashioned 
figures  of  Jonathan  and  Diedrich  ;  and  as  the  shield  itself 
let  us  blazon  no  proud  symbol  of  a  privileged  class,  no  red 


334 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION'. 


hand  of  universal  license,  but  the  steadfast,  serene,  self- 
poised  figure  of  Liberty. 

That  her  fair  form  may  stand  and  shine, 
Make  bright  our  days  and  light  our  dreams, 

Turning  to  scorn,  with  lips  divine, 
The  falsehood  of  extremes. 


THE  RULING  SENTIMENT  OF  THE  PILGRIMS. 

EDWARD   EVERETT    HALE. 

Nothing  is  more  interesting  than  the  way  in  which  at 
once,  from  the  very  beginning,  the  men  of  the  Old  Colony — 
as  we  still  fondly  say  in  Massachusetts— and  the  men  of 
the  Bay  joined  hands  with  each  other.  They  were  not  the 
same  men  ;  their  history  was  not  the  same  ;  their  industries 
were  not  the  same  ;  their  ancient  customs  were  not  the 
same.  Here  at  Plymouth  was  this  little  group  of  English 
artisans,  men  who  knew  how  to  judge  wool,  how  to  spin  it, 
dyers  of  wool ;  men  who  made  fustian  as  if  it  pleased  God 
that  the  dignity  of  the  mechanical  arts  should  be  shown  in 
the  very  planting  of  an  empire  ;  and  here  in  the  Bay  were 
grouped  men  whom  in  England  they  would  have  called 
another  class  ;  people  who  had  been  in  universities,  people 
who  had  been  in  the  court,  people  who  had  friends  at  court, 
and  perhaps  not  one  man  of  them  of  the  one  colony,  in  the 
Old  World,  had  seen  one  man  of  the  other  colony.  But 
this  difference  of  the  men  is  simply  external.  When  they 
come  to  their  new  homes  they  have  one  life,  because  they 
have  one  duty. 

On  these  shortest  days  of  the  year  we  gather  to  testify 
our  honor  for  the  brave  men  and  women  who,  in  the  very 
day  of  the  beginning  of  winter,  planted  the  foundations  of 
an  empire.  And  our  prosperous  Massachusetts  Colony,  on 
the  other  hand,  made  the  shore,  and  landed  on  the  next 
day,  on  the  21st  of  June,  in  the  glow  of  summer — "What 
is  so  rare  as  a  day  in  June," — landed  in  the  midst  of  straw- 


FOREFATHERS'  DAY. 


335 


berries  and  flowers  and  all  the  luxuries  of  the  Beverly 
shore.  The  two  days  of  landing  are  a  fit  type  of  what  the 
little  straggling  foothold  on  a  desert  was  as  compared  with 
the  dignified  arrangements  of  those  who  came  in  a  fleet, 
fortified  by  the  charter  of  a  king,  to  carry  on  a  govern- 
ment in  a  way  predetermined  in  London. 

And  yet  with  all  this  contrast  of  men  and  of  circumstances, 
the  two  coalesced  from  the  very  beginning.  The  Pilgrim 
at  Plymouth  sent  his  doctor  to  heal  the  sick  in  the  Bay. 
The  Governor  of  Massachusetts  goes  down  and  joins  in  a 
prayer  meeting  with  the  people  at  Plymouth.  From  that 
hour  to  this  there  has  not  been  the  first  shade  of  difference 
between  the  two.  From  that  hour  to  this  hour  the  two  States 
have  been  one  State,  their  leaders  have  been  friends,  their 
destiny  has  been  the  same,  cind  their  dignity  has  been  the 
same.  How  do  you  account  for  this  ?  Why  is  it  that  the 
States  lying  side  by  side  are  not  quarreling  together  as  they 
always  do  in  feudal  institutions  or  in  European  history  ?  The 
difference  is  that  the  feudal  institutions  die  within  fifteen 
minutes  after  the  immigrant  lands  in  America.  The  word 
feudal  is  a  good  one,  because  it  describes  the  eternal  war 
which  exists  between  the  men  who  are  educated  in  that  com- 
plicated sociid  system  of  top,  bottom,  and  middle.  The 
feudal  system  perishes  as  soon  as  every  man  understands 
that  he  is  his  brother's  keeper,  and  in  the  company  of  men 
who  know  that  they  live  together  for  the  greater  glory  of 

God. 

It  is  in  those  great  words  that  we  find  the  real  secret 
history  of  the  success  of  New  England.  I  do  not  claim  it 
for  New  England  alone.  I  am  willing  to  admit  the  claim 
of  my  friends  on  the  right  and  left  of  me  here,  who  point 
out  so  well  what  the  republics  have  done,  men  who  are 
trained  in  the  same  school  of  religion  with  liberty  and  civili- 
zation ;  but  I  do  claim,  as  they  say  in  the  Patent  Office, 
that  the  great  discovery  was  the  discovery  of  success  for 
the  State  where  all  men  act  as  if  they  believed  in  that  central 
statement,  that  the  chief  end  of  man  is  the  glory  of  God. 


336 


THOUGHTS  FOR   THE   OCCASION. 


FOREFATHERS'  DAY. 


337 


f 


What  is  the  chief  end  of  man  ?  Some  of  you  were  asked 
the  question  in  your  catechism,  and  however  you  blundered 
in  the  rest  of  the  catechism,  you  were  able  to  say  in  reply  : 
"  The  chief  end  of  man  is  to  glorify  God  and  enjoy  him 
forever."  There  is  a  statement  on  which  Dr.  Briggs  and 
his  prosecutors  will  agree  ;  there  is  the  statement  which 
thousands  of  men  and  women — hundreds  of  thousands  of 
men  and  women — have  believed.  Massachusetts  is  Massa- 
chusetts and  New  England  is  New  England.  It  is  one 
thing  for  a  man  to  awake  in  the  morning,  meaning  to  live 
for  his  own  comfort,  for  his  own  palate,  for  his  own  want, 
for  his  own  house,  for  his  own  bank  account,  for  his  own 
fame,  and  it  is  quite  another  thing  for  a  man  to  wake  in  the 
morning  and  come  to  the  consciousness  that  that  day  he  is 
to  live  for  the  glory  of  God. 

Somehow  or  other,  these  simple  men  and  women,  trained 
if  you  please  in  a  school  of  what  you  call  ignorance,  trained 
in  a  life  which  you  now  call  bigoted,  woke  in  the  morning 
with  that  divine  feeling  :  The  world  is  to  be  a  better  world 
to-night  because  I  am  in  it ;  this  world  is  to  be  more  God's 
world  because  I  am  in  it ;  God's  kingdom  is  to  come  to- 
day, and  it  is  to  come  because  I  am  in  it.  The  man  with 
such  a  conviction  goes  out  to  split  shingles,  and  he  splits 
shingles  to  the  glory  of  God  ;  he  goes  to  break  through  a 
snowdrift,  and  breaks  through  the  snowdrift  to  the  glory 
of  God.  If  he  goes  to  capture  Louisburg,  he  captures 
Louisburg  to  the  glory  of  God  ;  and  when  he  goes  to  defy 
George  III.,  and  the  greatest  empire  of  the  world,  it  is  for 
the  glory  of  God  that  he  defies  him ;  because  he  under- 
stands that  he  is  at  work  with  God,  because  he  knows  that 
he  has  an  almighty  ally,  this  man  succeeds. 

WHAT    THE    GROWTH    LED    TO. 

From  the  day  when  Winthrop  sighted  the  Beverly  shore, 
they  and  their  companions  were  trying  to  advance  the 
world,  to  make  it  a  better  one,  or,  as  they  said  themselves, 


to  live  in  God's  glory.  It  is  because  of  this  that  Massachu- 
setts and  New  England  can  claim  any  success  which  they 
have  achieved  in  four  or  five  continents  or  on  the  ocean. 
It  was  this  that  sent  their  whaling  fleets  into  both  the 
oceans,  as  Burke  said— Burke,  who  knew  nothing  of  the 
oceans  of  to-day.  It  was  because  of  this— I  do  not  say 
that  they  planted  schools  and  colleges,  but  that  they  planted 
civil  government  ;  that  they  built  up  States  ;  that  they 
united  those  States  when  the  time  for  union  came  ;  it  is 
because   of   this   that   America  is  the   first  nation  in   the 

world. 

Guizot,  when  he  was  in  exile,  asked  Mr.  Lowell,  when  he 
was  our  Minister  in  London,  how  long  the  American  Union 
would  exist,  and  Lowell  said  to  him  :  *'  It  will  exist  so  long 
as  the  men  of  America  hold  to  the  fundamental  principles 
of  their  fathers."  Central  in  these  fundamental  principles 
is  the  determination  of  fathers  and  of  children  that  in  each 
day  of  life  the  world  shall  be  a  better  world  ;  that  is,  in 
each  day  of  life  a  man  shall  live  to  the  glory  of  God. 

These  gentlemen  who  are  around  me,  representing  other 
republics  and  older  republics  than  ours,  representing  other 
religions  than  ours,  and  states  of  another  origin  than  ours, 
must  not  think  that  it  is  I  who  am  describing  the  morals 
or  the  prosperity  of  New  England.  I  hold  in  my  hand  a 
a  little  slip  from  the  London  Times,  which  I  carry 
around  with  me  in  my  vest  pocket  lest  I  should  meet  an 
Englishman.  The  London  Times  is  a  hard  hitter,  a 
hard  censor.  It  does  not  easily  praise,  but  sometimes  it 
is  obliged  to  praise,  compelled  by  the  majesty  of  truth. 
"  The  sympathy  of  the  people  of  Massachusetts  is  a  title 
to  the  consideration  of  the  world.  No  community  of  which 
we  have  any  knowledge  approaches,  in  enlightenment  or 
morality  to  the  inhabitants  of  this  part  of  the  Union,"  said 
the  Times  in  1S59.  We  Massachusetts  men  do  not  ask, 
because  we  are  modest,  for  language  more  marked  that  this 
which  is  extorted  from  the  lips  of  the  most  consistent 
enemy  of  liberal  institutions. 


333 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


A    WORD    FOR    THE    FUTURE. 


f 

I 


FOREFATHERS    DAY. 


339 


And  it  is  to  the  destiny  which  awaits  such  a  race  that  we 
are  willing  to  commit  the  future.  What  that  future  will  be 
we  do  not  know  and  we  do  not  ask  to  know  ;  but  we  are 
firm  in  the  faith  that  so  long  as  the  children  will  hold  to 
the  fundamental  principles  of  the  fathers,  the  same  success 
will  crown  their  endeavors  which  has  crowned  those  of  the 
fathers  if  we  live  to  the  greater  glory  of  God.  If  each 
man  of  us  every  day  resolves  to  set  this  world  one  stage 
forward,  we  are  sure  of  infinite  alliance,  and  he  who  has 
the  infinite  alliance  is  not  apt  to  fall. 

We  meet  together  here  at  the  season  of  the  year  when 
there  is  least  light.  Yes,  but  more  light  is  coming.  It  is 
the  season  which  the  Church  appointed  for  the  celebration 
of  the  birth  of  Christ,  because  the  Church  meant  to  say 
that  at  the  very  moment  when  the  world  was  darkest  there 
was  the  greatest  certainty  of  sunlight.  This  is  the  month 
when,  by  one  of  those  curious  coincidences  which  compel 
us  to  believe  that  history  is  written  by  universal  law,  it 
happened,  as  we  reverently  say,  that  fifty  weavers  and 
spinners  and  fullers,  with  their  delicate  wives  and  wondering 
children,  laid  the  foundation  of  an  empire,  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  democracy,  which  is  to  say,  of  our  empire. 

The  lengthening  days  shall  longer  grow, 

Till  summer  rules  the  land  ; 
From  Pilgrim  rills  great  rivers  flow, 

Grt)w  stronger  and  more  grand. 
So  may  He  grant  us  that  more  clear 
The  Son  of  Righteousness  appear, 
And  from  the  doubtful  East  arise 
The  noon-day  monarch  of  the  skies. 
Till  all  know  him  as  he  is  known, 
And  all  the  world  be  all  his  own. 


ADMIRATION  FOR  THE  PURITAN  CHARACTER. 

REV.   T.   DEWITT  TALMAGE,   D.   D. 

If  we  leave  to  the  evolutionists  to  guess  where  we  came 
from,  and  to  the  theologians  to  prophesy  where  we  are  going 
to,  we  still  have  left  for  consideration  the  fact  that  we  are 
here  ;  and  we  are  here  at  an  interesting  time.  Of  all  the 
centuries  this  is  the  best  century,  and  of  all  the  decades 
of  the  century  this  is  the  best  decade,  and  of  all  the  years 
of  the  decade  this  is  the  best  year,  and  of  all  the  months  of 
the  year  this  is  the  best  month,  and  of  all  the  nights  of  the 
month  this  is  the  best  night.  Many  of  these  advantages 
we  trace  straight  back  to  Forefathers'  Day,  about  which  I 
am  to  speak. 

I  only  wish  I  could  have  kissed  the  Blarney  Stone  of 
America,  which  is  Plymouth  Rock,  so  that  I  might  have 
done  justice  to  this  subject.  Ah,  gentlemen,  that  May- 
flower was  the  ark  that  floated  the  deluge  of  oppression, 
and  Plymouth  Rock  was  the  Ararat  on  which  it  landed. 

But  let  me  say  that  these  forefathers  were  of  no  more 
importance  than  the  foremothers.  As  I  understand  it,  there 
were  eight  of  them— that  is,  four  fathers  and  four  mothers, 
from  whom  all  these  illustrious  New  Englanders  descended. 
Now,  I  was  not  born  in  New  England,  though  far  back  my 
ancestors  lived  in  Connecticut,  and  then  crossed  over  to 
Long  Island  and  there  joined  the  Dutch,  and  that  mixture 
of  Yankee  and  Dutch  makes  royal  blood.  Neither  is  per- 
fect without  the  other,  the  Yankee  in  a  man's  nature  say- 
ing, '*  Go  ahead  !  "  the  Dutch  in  his  blood  saying,  "  Be 
prudent  while  you  do  go  ahead  I  "  Some  people  do  not 
understand  why  Long  Island  was  stretched  along  parallel 
with  all  of  the  Connecticut  coast.  I  have  no  doubt  that  it 
was  so  placed  that  the  Dutch  might  watch  the  Yankees. 

But  though  not  born  in  New  England,  in  my  boyhood  I 
had  a  New  England  schoolmaster  whom  I  shall  never  for- 
get.    He  taught  us  our  A  B  C's. 

*'What  is   that?"     "I   don't  know,  sir."     ''That's  A" 


340 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


(with  a  slap).  "  What's  that  ? "  *'  I  don't  know,  sir " 
(with  a  slap).  "  That  is  B."  I  tell  you,  a  boy  that  learned 
his  letters  in  that  way  never  forgot  them  ;  and  if  the  boy 
was  particularly  dull,  then  this  New  England  schoolmaster 
would  take  him  over  the  knee,  and  then  the  boy  got  his 
information  from  both  directions. 

But  all  these  things  aside,  no  one  has  higher  admiration 
for  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  than  1  have— the  men  who 
believed  in  two  great  doctrines,  which  are  the  foundation 
of  every  religion  that  is  worth  anything  ;  namely,  the 
fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of  man  ;  these  men 
of  backbone  and  endowed  with  the  great  and  magnificent 
attribute  of  stick-to-itiveness.  Macaulay  said  that  no  one 
ever  sneered  at  the  Puritans  who  had  met  them  in  halls  of 
debate  or  crossed  swords  with  them  on  the  field  of  battle. 
They  are  sometimes  defamed  for  their  rigorous  Sabbaths, 
but  our  danger  is  in  the  opposite  direction  of  no  Sabbaths 
at  all.  It  is  said  that  they  destroyed  witches.  I  wish  that 
they  had  cleared  them  all  out,  for  the  world  is  full  of  witches 
yet,  and  if  at  all  these  tables  there  is  a  man  who  has  not 
sometimes  been  bewitched,  let  him  hold  up  his  glass  of  ice- 
water.  It  is  said  that  these  forefathers  carried  religion 
into  everything,  and  before  a  man  kissed  his  wife  he  asked 
a  blessing,  and  afterward  said  :  "  Having  received  another 
favor  from  the  Lord  let  us  return  thanks."  But  our  great 
need  now  is  more  religion  in  everyday  life. 

I  think  their  plain  diet  had  much  to  do  with  their  rug- 
gedness  of  nature.  They  had  not  so  many  good  things  to 
eat  as  we  have,  and  they  had  better  digestion. 

Still,  take  it  all  in  all,  I  think  the  descendants  of  the 
Pilgrim  Fathers  are  as  good  as  their  ancestors,  and  in  many 
ways  better.  Children  are  apt  to  be  an  echo  of  their  ances- 
tors. We  are  apt  to  put  a  halo  around  the  forefathers,  but 
I  expect  that  at  our  age  they  were  very  much  like  ourselves. 
People  are  not  wise  when  they  long  for  the  good  old  days. 
They  say  :  *'  Just  think  of  the  pride  of  people  at  this  day  ! 
Just  look  at  the  ladies'  hats  !  "     Why,  there  is  nothing  in 


FOREFATHERS'  DAY. 


341 


the  ladies'  hats  of  to-day  equal  to  the  coal-scuttle  hats  a 
hundred  years  ago.  They  say  :  "  Just  look  at  the  way  peo- 
ple dress  their  hair  !  "  Why,  the  extremest  style  of  to-day 
will  not  equal  the  top-knots  which  our  great-grandmothers 
wore,  put  up  with  high  combs  that  we  would  have  thought 
would  have  made  our  great-grandfathers  die  with  laughter. 
The  hair  was  lifted  into  a  pyramid  a  foot  high.  On  the  top 
of  that  tower  lay  a  white  rose.  Shoes  of  bespangled  white 
kid,  and  heels  two  or  three  inches  high.  Grandfather  went 
out  to  meet  her  on  the  floor  with  a  coat  of  sky-blue  silk  and 
vest  of  white  satin  embroidered  with  gold  lace,  lace  ruffles 
around  his  wrist,  and  his  hair  flung  in  a  cue.  The  great 
George  Washington  had  his  horse's  hoofs  blackened  when 
about  to  appear  on  a  parade,  and  writes  to  Europe  ordering 
sent  for  the  use  of  himself  and  family,  one  silver-lace  hat, 
one  pair  of  silver  shoe-buckles,  a  coat  made  of  fashionable 
silk,  one  pair  of  gold  sleeve-buttons,  six  pairs  of  kid  gloves, 
one  dozen  most  fashionable  cambric  pocket-handkerchiefs, 
besides  ruffles  and  tucker.     That  was  George. 

Talk  about  dissipations,  ye  who  have  ever  seen  one  old 
fashioned  sideboard  !  Did  I  not  have  an  old  relative  who 
always,  when  visitors  came,  used  to  go  upstairs  and  take 
a  drink  through  economical  habits,  not  offering  anything 
to  his  visitors?  On  the  old-fashioned  training  days  the 
most  sober  men  were  apt  to  take  a  day  to  themselves. 
Many  of  the  familiar  drinks  of  to-day  were  unknown  to 
them,  but  their  hard  cider,  mint  julep,  metheglin,  hot  toddy, 
and  lemonade,  in  which  the  lemon  was  not  at  all  prominent, 
sometimes  made  lively  work  for  the  broad-brimmed  hats 
and  silver  knee-buckles.  Talk  of  dissipating  parties  of 
to-day  and  keeping  of  late  hours  !  Why,  did  they  not 
have  their  "bees"  and  sausage-stuffings  and  tea  parties 
and  dances,  that  for  heartiness  and  uproar  utterly  eclipsed 
all  the  waltzes,  lanciers,  redowas,  and  breakdowns  of  the 
nineteenth  centuty,  and  they  never  went  home  till  morning. 
And  as  to  the  oldtime  courtships,  oh,  my!  Washington 
Irving  describes  them. 


342 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


But  though  your  forefathers  may  not  have  been  much^  if 
any,  better  than  yourselves,  let  us  extol  them  for  the  fact 
that  they  started  this  country  in  the  right  direction.  They 
laid  the  foundation  for  American  manhood.  The  founda- 
tion must  be  more  solid  and  firm  and  unyielding  than  any 
other  part  of  the  structure.  On  that  Puritanic  foundation 
we  can  safely  build  all  nationalities.  Let  us  remember 
that  the  coming  American  is  to  be  an  admixture  of  all 
foreign  bloods.  In  about  twenty-five  or  fifty  years  the 
model  American  will  step  forth.  He  will  have  the  strong 
brain  of  the  German,  the  polished  manners  of  the  French, 
the  artistic  taste  of  the  Italian,  the  stanch  heart  of  the  Eng- 
lish, the  steadfast  piety  of  the  Scotch,  the  lightning  wit  of 
the  Irish,  and  when  he  steps  forth,  bone,  muscle,  nerve,  brain 
entwined  with  the  fibers  of  all  the  nationalities,  the  nations 
will  break  out  in  the  cry  :  "  Behold  the  American  !  " 

Columbus  discovered  only  the  shell  of  this  country. 
Agassiz  came  and  discovered  fossiliferous  America.  Silli- 
man  came  and  discovered  geological  America.  Audubon 
came  and  discovered  bird  America.  Longfellow  came  and 
discovered  poetic  America  ;  and  there  are  a  half-dozen 
other  Americas  yet  to  be  discovered. 

I  never  realized  what  this  country  was  and  is  as  on  the  day 
when  I  first  saw  some  of  these  gentlemen  of  the  Army  and 
Navy.  It  was  when,  at  the  close  of  the  War,  our  armies 
came  back  and  marched  in  review  before  the  President's 
stand  at  Washington.  I  do  not  care  whether  a  man  was  a 
Republican  or  a  Democrat,  a  Northern  man  or  a  Southern 
man,  if  he  had  any  emotion  of  nature  he  could  not  look 
upon  it  without  weeping.  God  knew  that  the  day  was  stu- 
pendous, and  he  cleared  the  heaven  of  cloud  and  mist  and 
chill,  and  sprung  the  blue  sky  as  a  triumphal  arch  for  the 
returning  warriors  to  pass  under.  From  Arlington  Heights 
the  spring  foliage  shook  out  its  welcome,  as  the  hosts  came 
over  the  hills,  and  the  sparkling  waters  of  the  Potomac 
tossed  their  gold  to  the  feet  of  the  battalions  as  they  came 
to  the  Long  Bridge  and  in  almost  interminable  line  passed 


FOREFATHERS    DAY. 


343 


over.  The  Capitol  never  seemed  so  majestic  as  that  morn- 
ing, snowy  white,  looking  down  upon  the  tides  of  men  that 
came  surging  down,  billow  after  billow.  Passing  in  silence, 
yet  I  heard  in  every  step  the  thunder  of  conflicts  through 
which  they  had  waded,  and  seemed  to  see  dripping  from 
their  smoke-blackened  flags  the  blood  of  our  country's 
martyrs.  For  the  best  part  of  two  days  we  stood  and 
watched  the  filing  on  of  what  seemed  endless  battalions, 
brigade  after  brigade,  division  after  division,  host  after 
host,  rank  beyond  rank — ever  moving,  ever  passing — march- 
ing, marching — tramp,  tramp,  tramp,  thousands  after 
thousands,  battery  front,  arms  shouldered,  columns  solid, 
shoulder  to  shoulder,  wheel  to  wheel,  charger  to  charger, 
nostril  to  nostril. 

Commanders  on  horses  with  their  manes  entwined  with 
roses,  and  necks  enchained  with  garlands,  fractious  at  the 
shouts  that  ran  along  the  line,  increasing  from  the  clapping 
of  children  clothed  in  white,  standing  on  the  steps  of  the 
Capitol,  to  the  tumultuous  vociferation  of  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  enraptured  multitudes,  crying,  "  Huzza  !  Huzza  !  " 
Gleaming  muskets,  thundering  parks  of  artillery,  rumbling 
pontoon  wagons,  ambulances  from  whose  wheels  seemed  to 
sound  out  the  groans  of  the  crushed  and  the  dying  that 
they  had  carried.  These  men  came  from  balmy  Minnesota, 
those  from  Illinois  prairies.  These  were  often  hummed  to 
sleep  by  the  pines  of  Oregon,  those  were  New  England 
lumbermen.  Those  came  out  of  the  coal  shafts  of  Penn- 
sylvania. Side  by  side  in  one  great  cause,  consecrated 
through  fire  and  storm  and  darkness,  brothers  in  peril,  on 
their  way  home  from  Chancellorsville  and  Kenesaw  Moun- 
tain  and  Fredericksburg,  in  lines  that  seemed  infinite  they 
passed  on. 

AVe  gazed  and  wept  and  wondered,  lifting  up  our  heads 
to  see  if  the  end  had  come,  but  no,  looking  from  one  end 
of  that  long  avenue  to  the  other  we  saw  them  yet  in  solid 
column,  battery  front,  host  beyond  host,  wheel  to  wheel, 
charger  to  charger,    nostril  to  nostril,  coming  as  it  were 


344 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


from  under  the  Capitol.  Forward  !  Forward  !  Their 
bayonets  caught  in  the  sun  glimmered  and  flashed  and 
blazed,  till  they  seemed  like  one  long  river  of  silver,  ever 
and  anon  changed  into  a  river  of  gold.  No  end  to  the  pro- 
cession, no  rest  for  the  eyes.  We  veered  our  heads  from 
the  scene,  unable  longer  to  look.  We  felt  disposed  to  stop 
our  ears,  but  still  we  heard  it,  marching,  marching— tramp, 
tramp,  tramp.  But  hush,  uncover  every  head  !  Here  they 
pass,  the  remnant  of  ten  men  of  a  full  regiment.  Silence  ! 
Widowhood  and  orphanage  look  on  and  wring  their  hands' 
But  wheel  into  line,  all  ye  people  !  North,  South,  East, 
West— all  decades,  all  centuries,  all  millenniums!  For- 
ward, the  whole  line  !     Huzza  !  Huzza  ! 


THE  DUTCH  AS  NEIGHBORS.* 

ANDREW  V.  V.   RAYMOND,   D.   D..   PRESIDENT  OF   UNION 

COLLEGE. 

Experience  shows  that  neighbors  have  more  to  do  with 
human  happiness  than  does  health  or  wealth  orthe  tariff. 
Neighbors  are  the  real  environment  of  life.  Environment 
IS  that  upon  which  we  depend  to  modify  heredity  ;  and  as 
heredity  means  for  the  most  of  us  original  sin,  the  possi- 
bility of  virtue  in  this  world  depends  largely  upon  whether 
the  man  who  lives  next  door  builds  a  wire  fence  between  us 
or  a  gate  that  swings  both  ways.  A  line  fence  is  a  surer 
mdex  to  character  than  church  membership. 

Now,  the  Dutch  are  known  in  history  as  the  principal 
patrons  of  the  double  action  hinge  as  a  part  of  a  line  fence. 
This  makes  them  the  most  neighborly  neighbors  that  have 
as  yet  appeared  in  the  course  of  human  development,  and 
as  all  the  true  development  is  in  the  direction  of  the 
recognition  of  the  claims  of  human  brotherhood  it  follows 

*  A  response  to  the  toast,  '«  The  Dutch  as  Neighbors."  at  the  Holland 
Society  banquet,  New  York,  1894. 


FOREFATHERS'  DAY. 


345 


that  the  Dutch  are  the  highest  product  of  the  ages — an 
assertion  which  strikes  your  inner  consciousness  as  sin- 
gularly true.  While  the  fact  of  this  superiority  is  to  you 
self-evident,  I  may  be  pardoned  if  I  dwell  upon  some  of  the 
things  that  made  it  a  fact,  and  not  simply  a  pleasing 
hallucination  to  which  other  nations  have  as  much  right 
as  have  we.  As  I  have  said,  this  position  at  the  head 
of  the  race  grows  out  of  the  neighborly  qualities  of  the 
Dutch,  on  the  principle  that  the  highest  virtue  is  brotherly 
kindness. 

Now,  the  test  of  neighborliness,  recognized  by  all  the 
world,  is  a  willingness  to  loan  which  sends  the  spoons 
through  the  gate  when  the  family  on  this  side  the  fence 
have  company.  By  this  test  the  Dutchman  has  gained 
his  place  in  the  grateful  regard  of  the  rest  of  humanity  ; 
for  I  make  bold  to  say,  although  there  is  little  virtue  in 
such  boldness  here,  that  the  chief  characteristic  of  the 
nation  has  been  ability  and  willingness  to  come  to  the  help 
of  those  who  find  themselves  short  in  any  of  life's  commodi- 
ties. Here  we  strike  a  great  underlying  principal.  All 
reciprocal  relations  are  determined  by  the  law  of  demand 
and  supply.  In  its  grosser  form  this  is  the  basis  of  com- 
mercial life,  and  in  its  finer  forms  it  is  the  basis  of  educa- 
tional, charitable,  social,  and  religious  life.  All  these  are 
possible  only  as  they  recognize  the  principle  that  some 
have  needs  which  it  is  the  business  and  pleasure  of  others 
to  relieve.  Where  this  is  not  recognized  there  can  be  no 
associated  life  of  any  kind,  no  commerce  of  goods,  ideas,  or 
friendship.  Now,  success  in  trade  always  depends  upon 
ability  to  supply  a  demand,  and  that  is  the  measure  of 
success  in  every  other  department  of  human  interest  and 
effort.  The  successful  physician  is  the  man  who  can  meet 
the  demand  of  our  often  infirmities,  and  that  whether  he 
makes  money  by  his  profession  or  not,  his  success  as 
a  physician  is  quite  independent  of  the  condition  of  his 
bank  account,  save  in  the  estimate  of  those  who  see  no 
virtue  in  anything  but  a  bank  account. 


34^ 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION, 


BORROWING    FROM    THE    DUTCH. 


By  the  same  token  the  success  of  the  Dutch  as  neighbors 
appears  in  the  ability  and  willingness  they  have  shown  in 
meeting  the  demand  of  the  world  for  everything  that  can 
be  borrowed— for  that  is  the  test  of  neighborly  virtue.     A 
man  may  be  a  good  lawyer  and  even  a  good  preacher  and 
not  a  good   neighbor   unless  he  is  in   the   loan    business. 
The  Hollander  has  been  in  that  business  from  the  day  that 
he  took  up  his  residence  among  the  sons  of  men.     As  soon 
as  he  had  a  line  fence  to  set  up  he  advertised  for  a  good 
gate  builder.     The  next-door  people  have  worked  that  gate 
for  about  everything  that  is  transferrable  or  usable.     Some 
Frenchmen  wanted  food  and  lodging  when  things  became 
a  little  too  crowded  at  home,  so  they  ran  over  to  the  Hol- 
lander and  he  put  another  leaf  in  his  table  and  aired  the 
spare  room.     When  some  Englishmen  came  along  on  the 
same   errand    he  bade  them  welcome,  saying,  **  Make  my 
house  your  home  as  long  as  you   need  it,"  and  when  they 
left  he  went  to  the  door  to  see  them   off  and  made  sure 
that  they  took  some  things  that  would  come  handy  when 
they  set  up  housekeeping  for  themselves  in  a  new  world. 
John  Bull  wanted  some  industries,  and  the  Hollander  sent 
over  some  of  his  children  to  teach  John's  how  to  do  some- 
thing besides  fight  one  another.     The  rest  of  the   world 
found  that  ideas  were  sometimes  useful,  and  as  the  Hoi- 
lander  had   enough  and  to  spare    he  furnished  them  on 
demand— ideas  about  cleanliness   and  order,  about  thrift 
and  economy,  about  commerce  and  government.     Germany 
wanted  liberty.     The  Hollander  first  showed  them  how  to 
get  it  and  to  keep  it  by  giving  up  everything  else  for  it ;  and 
after  the  object  lesson  of  the  Eighty  Years'   War,  pitched 
m  and  helped  the  Germans  to  get  it  for  themselves  in  the 
Thirty  Years'  War.     Protestantism  wanted  a  creed,  and  the 
Hollander   said,  "  Come  to  Dort  and  you  shall  have  it." 
They  came  and  took  away  the  best  creed  that  Christendom 
has  yet  known.     America  wanted  men,  so  the  Hollander 


FOREFATHERS'   DAY. 


347 


sent  some  of  his  sons,  and  American  civilization  began  at 
Fort  Orange,  now  Albany. 

The  first  thing  that  these  sons  did  was  to  carry  out  in 
the  New  World  their  ancestral  ideas  about  a  line  fence. 
From  the  first  they  were  neighborly  to  the  Indians.  The 
gate  was  a  pleasing  novelty  to  the  Indian,  and  so  he  always 
came  in  that  way,  quietly  and  peaceably,  and  did  not  get 
exasperated  by  being  obliged  to  climb  the  fence.  This  is 
only  another  proof  that  the  gate  is  the  greatest  civilizing 
agency  that  man  has  ever  discovered  ;  and  the  only  man 
whom  the  Dutchman  has  ever  fought  has  been  the  one  who 
has  tried  to  get  into  his  house  some  other  way.  He  insists 
upon  his  right  to  be  neighborly  if  he  has  to  fight  for  it.  It 
was  only  because  Philip  tried  to  nail  his  gate,  suppress  his 
kindly  nature,  and  make  him  as  bigoted  and  narrow  and 
exclusive  as  the  Spaniard,  that  the  Dutchman  took  down 
his  gun  and  went  after  Philip.  So  in  the  New  World  the 
Dutchman's  sons  have  never  fought  for  anything  but  the 
right  of  hospitality.  They  have  been  willing  to  be  robbed 
of  everything  but  their  kindly  nature,  and  have  gone  on 
loaning  to  anybody  and  everybody  who  knocked  at  their 
doors,  not  only  their  goods  and  chatties,  their  ideas  and 
principles,  but  themselves  ;  so  that  there  is  scarcely  a 
business  enterprise  or  a  charitable  institution  or  a  church 
in  their  neighborhood  that  does  not  depend  upon  Dutch- 
men. 


DUTCH    INSTITUTIONS. 

One  result  of  this  loan  system  has  been  that  distinct- 
ively Dutch  institutions  have  never  grown  to  colossal  or 
even  impressive  size  ;  in  fact,  bigness  has  never  been 
a  Dutchman's  ambition.  It  takes  a  certain  amount  of 
selfishness  to  realize  such  an  ambition,  and  that  is  the 
one  thing  the  Hollander  has  lacked.  Instead  of  wishing 
to  increase  the  size  of  his  own  house,  so  as  to  dwarf 
others  in  comparison,  he  has  been  willing  to  increase  the 
size  of  other  houses  so  that  there  would  be  more  uniformity 


348 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASIO.V. 


on  his  block  and  a  greater  sum  total  of  happiness  in   his 
part  of  the  world.     There  was  a  time  when  Holland  might 
have  annexed  a  large  part  of  Europe  and  built  up  a  great 
empire  under  her  own  flag,  but  Holland  chose  instead  to 
build  up  other  nations  under  their  own  flag.     Now  that  is 
a  kind  of  virtue  not  generally  understood,  and  it  makes  the 
world  regard  the  Hollander  as  queer,  to  say  the  least.     Not 
to  get  all  that  you  can  for  yourself  is  an  evidence  to  the 
popular  mind  of  lack  of  brains  or  lack  of  push,  and  the  one 
is  deemed  as  bad  as  the  other.     The  more  charitable  called 
the  Dutchman    simply  old-fashioned  in  his  notions.      But 
when,  let  me  ask,  has  it  been  the  fashion  to  put  a  stone  in 
another  man's  house  that  you  might  have  put  in  your  own  ? 
Why!  the  fashion  has  always  been  to  pull  down  the  other 
man's  house  to  get  building  materials  for  a  new  story  for  your 
own,  and  that,  too,  whether  you  needed  the  story  or  not. 
The  only  trouble  with  the  Hollander  to-day  is  that  so  far 
from  being  behind  the  times,  he  is,  God  only  knows  how 
far,  ahead  of  them,  for  no  man  scanning  the  horizon  can 
tell  just  when  it  is  going  to  be  the  fashion  to  "lend,  hoping 
for  nothing  again,"  or  to  "  do  unto  others  as  ye  would  that 
they  should  do  unto  you."     The  rallying  cry  of  the  present 
is  very  much  as  it  has  always  been,  **  every  man  for  himself 
and  the  devil  take  the  hindermost."     About  the  only  use 
we  moderns  find  for  the  devil  is  to  bring  up  the  rear  of 
the  procession  for  the  purpose  of  gathering  in  the  footsore 
and  weary,  the  maimed  and  fallen.     Now   Dutch  theology 
runs  so  far  counter  to  popular  theology  as  to  reverse  this 
idea,  for  it  makes  these  people  the  divine  care  and  puts  the 
devil  at  the  head  of  the  race  to  lead  the  selfishly  ambitious 
on  to  their  own  destruction  ;  so  that  the  man  who  stops  to 
lift  up  the  fallen  or  to  help  along  the  feeble  gets  nearer  to 
God  than  do  the  selfishly  successful. 

Now,  that  has  been  the  Dutchman's  creed  and  the 
Dutchman's  practice,  and  the  only  ground  upon  which  he 
can  be  called  old-fashioned  is  that  some  nineteen  hundred 
years  ago  it  was  the  creed  and  practice  of  a  certain  Teacher 


FOREFATHERS'  DAY, 


349 


and  his  disciples  in  Palestine  ;  but  it  was  not  popular  then, 
and  the  fact  that  the  Dutchman's  ideas  of  life  are  drawn 
almost  exclusively  from  that  source  does  not  tend  to  make 
him  a  popular  model  to-day,  and  may  justify  the  charge 
that  he  is  not  up  to  date.  It  is  an  old  Book  that  defines 
a  neighbor  as  the  man  who  helped  one  of  another  nation 
in  distress  and  loaned  him  his  beast  and  his  wine  flask  and 
his  oil  bottle  and  purse,  and  in  realizing  that  description 
the  Hollander  may  seem  out  of  date. 

But  that  old  Book  is  a  prophecy  of  the  golden  age 
that  ever  beckons  this  stumbling  world  onward.  It  gives 
a  picture  of  life  not  as  it  was  or  is,  so  much  as  of  life  as 
it  shall  be,  and  the  older  it  grows  the  more  divine  appears 
its  portrayal  and  the  more  inspiring  its  promise  of  a  new 
heaven  and  a  new  earth  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness, 
for  the  world  learns  slowly  and  by  bitter  experience  that 
selfishness  is  the  curse  of  life  ;  but  still  it  learns,  and  every 
step  in  its  progress  only  brings  out  more  clearly  the  blessed- 
ness and  the  holiness  of  the  time  when  men  shall  not  learn 
war  any  more,  when  the  cry  of  weakness  shall  be  the  call 
of  God,  when  the  glory  of  life  shall  be  to  minister  and  the 
greatest  among  men  shall  be  the  humblest  servant. 

The  more  clearly  this  vision  rises  before  humanity  the 
more  exalted  will  appear  the  character  and  the  work  of  the 
people  whose  chief  distinction  among  the  nations  of  the 
earth  has  been  the  service  they  have  rendered,  not  for 
selfish  gain  or  passing  glory,  but  out  of  human  sympathy,  as 
though  their  brother's  **  sin  and  sorrow  were  their  own." 
Let  other  nations  sing  of  victory  over  the  weak,  the  spoils 
gathered  by  force  along  life's  highway  ;  let  the  priests  and 
the  Levites  of  a  proud  ecclesiasticism  meditate  upon  the 
glories  of  their  temples  and  the  splendors  of  their  festal 
days  ;  we  tell  of  the  goodness  and  graces,  the  strength  and 
the  gentleness  that  have  gone  to  the  help  of  the  weak,  the 
wounded,  the  distressed — the  Samaritan  spirit  that  has 
made  Holland  a  neighbor  to  the  humanity  that  has  fallen 
among  thieves. 


350 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASIOIV. 


HOLLAND*S    PLACE    IN    HISTORY. 

Gentlemen,  toward    the  realization  of    the  divine    idea 
of  human  brotherhood  all  the   hidden   forces  of  life  are 
workingr.     I  say  hidden   because  all    constructive  energy 
works  in    secret.     The  leaven  that  lifts  and  lightens   the 
meal  is  buried  ;  the  sunshine  and  air  and  water  that  build 
the  tree,  first  lose  themselves  in  its  life  ;  and  all  the  forces 
of  righteousness  in  human  society  are  unseen  because  per- 
vasive.    And   so  the  measure   of  a  nation's   influence   is 
determined,  not  by  the  extent  of  its  territory,  the  absolute- 
ness of  its  sovereignty,  the  visible  strength  of  its  institu. 
tions,  but  by  the  spirit,  the  unseen  energy  which  it  contributes 
to  the  life  of  the  world.     The  first  condition  of  constructive 
power  is  the  apparent  loss  of  that  power.     Holland's  place 
in   history  is  not  fixed   by  its  institutional   greatness,  but 
rather  by  the  diffusiveness  of  the  ideas,  the  spirit,  which 
constitutes  its  real  life.     Its  part  in  the  making  of  America 
is  not  seen  in  the  separate  institutions,  civil,  educational, 
religious,    which   it  transplanted,  but  in    the  spirit   of  its 
scattered  people  losing  everything  like  organic  union,  but 
thereby  carrying  into  every  community  and  every  school 
and  every  church  the  influence  of  a  high  ideal  of  character, 
a  strong  sense  of  human  brotherhood,  a  spirit  of  concili- 
ation and  kindness  which  is  to  make  it  the  destiny  of  Hol- 
land to  live  a  still  larger  life  in  the  America  which  is  to  be 
the  strong  and  helpful  neighbor  to  all  the  world,  hastening 
the  time  when  all  the  sons  of  men  shall  be  the  sons  of  God'', 
and  He  who  "  went  about  doing  good  "  shall  be  in  truth  the 
king  of  a  regenerated  humanity,  and  the  whole  earth  one 
great  neighborhood,  where  the    need  of  each  will  be  the 
care  of  all. 


FOREFA  THERS'  DA  K 


35^ 


THE  FOREFATHERS  WERE  GOD'S  NOBILITY. 

CHAUNCEY   M.  DEPEW. 

I  WAS  never  so  much  impressed  with  the  countless  num- 
bers and  universal  pervasiveness  of  the  family  as  I  have 
been  since  I  became  one  of  its  members.  The  bank  and 
the  factory,  the  store  and  the  counting  room,  every  stand- 
ing place  where  energy,  faculty,  and  thrift  can  get  a  foot- 
hold is  occupied  by  a  Yankee.  He  can  both  build  and 
climb.  No  depth  discourages  and  no  height  dazes  him. 
He  will  earn  a  living  where  the  keenest  Hebrew  would 
starve,  and  grow  rich  where  all  other  races  can  only  plod. 
It  is  only  in  great  cities  like  New  York,  where  Europe  and 
Asia  combine  to  keep  him  down,  that  he  can  be  prevented 
from  running  the  government.  I  was  not  adopted  because 
it  was  necessary  to  increase  the  family. 

The  Pilgrims  who  came  over  in  the  Mayflower  were 
mainly  equipped  with  ideas  and  household  furniture,  but  the 
twenty  thousand  Puritans  who  came  after,  brought  with 
them  five  hundred  thousand  pounds.  It  has  been  estimated 
that  the  equivalent  would  be  in  our  time  not  less  than 
fifteen  million  dollars.  The  history  of  immigration  may  be 
searched  in  vain  for  any  parallel.  These  people  were  led 
by  graduates  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge.  They  were  edu- 
cated and  prosperous  beyond  the  mass  of  their  country- 
men. There  were  no  idlers,  nor  paupers,  nor  lepers,  nor 
anarchists  among  them.  They  were  one  and  all  workers. 
They  came  to  found  homes  and  build  a  state. 

The  Puritans,  more  than  any  other  of  the  original  factors 
in  our  beginnings,  rescued  this  continent  from  the  savages 
and  from  Europe.  To  enjoy  the  benefit  of  the  liberties 
which  they  established,  there  have  come  across  in  the  cen- 
tury now  closing  twenty  millions  of  emigrants.  They  were 
of  every  race  and  of  all  creeds. 

They  have  been  cordially  welcomed  and  adopted  into 
the  equal  rights  and  inheritance  of  American  freedom  and 


..  ^ffljaa.  J-,  i^^l;^-  a:t..j.2-u»Mjajf'  "^■'^  aft.-.»-^r!a.M^.t:>.,.a»*-...^  ^  .ta-.^-  ■»  a^itot^.^-a-iaAm,Js,O.CB!^J.Jg  Mjamn* 


352 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCAS/OAT. 


FOREFA  THERS'   DA  Y. 


353 


Tl         7«.  I  he  superb  and   unequaled  development  of 
he  Un  ted  States  .s  largely  due  to  their  energy  and  Indus 
try.     Now  .n  the  plenitude  of  our  prosperity^ powe     and 
resources,  wuh  the  duty  of  protecting  the  puri  ;  'and  iklth 
of  s,xty  five  millions  of  people,  and  of  preserving  order  ad 
aw  and  hberty,  we  must  guard  our  port  against  undesir 
able  ■mm.grat.on.     As  the   standard  of   wirat   we  requ  re 
nses  the  quality  of  what  we  receive  deteriorates.     Nekher 
our   hospaahty  nor  our   domain    is  exhausted.     We  have 
room  and  opportunity  for  intelligence,  integrity,  thrift   for 
a  dent  and  worthy  apprentices  for  the  pricLs    privies 
of  American  citizenship.     But  the  time  has  come  to  infofm 
emphatically  all    the   governments   and    munic  pdit iel   of 
Europe  that  the  refuse  of   their  populations  canno    have 
refuge     ere.     The  first  principle  of  international  com  y 
upo     which   we  mu.st   insist  is  that  each  nation  shall  care 
for   Its  cum.nals,  its  paupers,  its  diseased,  and  its  social 

ma^'^m'  """h"'^'  '^  ^'^^  ^"^''-"'  ^'e^gyman  a  cL  ! 
mate  of  mine-who  was  stationed  at  Peekskill_what  were 
his  .nteiuions  for  the  future  of  a  vigorous  youngster  who 
was  playing  on  the  lawn.  "  Well,"  said  he, '<  m/wife  Id 
I  bheve.n  natural  selection,  and  letting  a  boy  follow  the 
be  of  his  mind.  To  find  out  what  that  was,  we  left  him 
.n  the  sitting  room  one  day  with  a  Bible,  a  silver  dollar  a  ^ 

ZTu  r  'r;:'  '■  .'"  "•^^"  ^^^  --^  back  he  is  rea'dl  g 
the  Bible  I  shall  tram  him  to  follow  me  as  a  preacher-  fi 
he  has  pocketed  the  dollar  I  will  make  a  banker  of  I  im 

he  IS  playing  with  the  apple  I  will  put  him  on  a  farm  ' 
When  we  returned  he  was  sitting  or,  the  Bible,  eating  tl^e 
apple  from  one  hand  and  clutching  the  dollar  in  the  ofher 
and  I  remarked  :     '  Wife,  this  boy  is  a  hog  ;  we  must  make 
a  politician  out  of  him.'  " 

pontics  ""moT"'""'''  ■'^'r^"'.  ^^^"'«  have   put   me   out  of 
politics.     Modern   investigations   and  merciless  criticisms 
have  murdered  our  heroes  and  exploded  our  myths.     They 
have  taken  away  from   us    Pocahontas  and  William  Tell 
They  have  destroyed  the  romantic  environment  of  Mary 


Queen  of  Scots,  and  undermined  the  greatness  of  Queen 
Elizabeth.  But  the  closer  we  study  their  lives,  and  the 
better  we  know  their  deeds,  the  more  profound  is  our 
admiration  and  the  greater  our  reverence  for  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers.  Between  the  drafting  of  their  immortal  charter 
of  liberty  in  the  cabin  of  the  Mayflower  and  the  fruition  of 
their  principles  in  the  power  and  majesty  of  the  Republic  of 
the  United  States  of  to-day  is  but  a  span  in  the  records  of 
the  world,  and  yet  it  is  the  most  important  and  beneficent 
chapter  in  history.  To  be  able  to  claim  descent  from  them, 
either  by  birth  or  adoption,  is  to  glory  in  kinship  with  God's 
nobility. 


THEIR  IDEAL   OF    EDUCATION. 

SETH    LOW,   PRESIDENT   COLUMBIA   COLLEGE. 

It  is  a  legitimate  source  of  pleasure  and  of  pride  to  all 
of  us  who  claim  our  parentage  from  New  England,  and  I 
believe  I  may  say  without  reserve  to  all  of  any  origin  who 
are  engaged  in  the  higher  education  all  over  the  country, 
that  New  England's  old  college  foundations  still  endure 
and  perform  still  their  ancient  and  honorable  service. 
They  have  weathered  the  storms  of  centuries.  They  still 
illustrate  to  their  younger  sisters  a  high  educational  ideal 
and  an  absolute  fidelity  to  every  pecuniary  trust.  They  set 
a  standard  such  that  none  may  be  unworthy  who  strives  to 
attain  it.  The  effort  to  surpass  it  is  the  animating  ambi- 
tion of  the  higher  education  throughout  the  land.  This  is 
genuine  leadership.  It  rests  in  part,  and  legitimately, 
upon  the  fact  of  age,  but  only  because  in  their  age  they 
are  full  of  the  fire  and  vigor  of  youth.  This  animating 
influence  going  out  from  them  is  a  splendid  contribution 
to  the  educational  life  of  the  country. 

In  New  England,  and  everywhere,  our  colleges  teach 
idealism  and  they  teach  patriotism.  It  was  at  Amherst 
that  Henry  Ward  Beecher  first  felt  the  spark  that  set  his 


1 


354 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


FOREFATHERS    DAY. 


nature  on  fire  and  made  him  the  fearless  champion  of  the 
slave.     The  secret  is  a  simple  one.     In  college  young  men 
are  brought,  at  a  time  of  life  when  they  are  peculiarly  sen- 
sitive to  such  influences,  into  personal  contact  with  men  of 
character,  who  are  not  often  worldly  minded  in  any  sordid 
sense,  but  who  often  are  fine  types  of  devotion  to  some 
forms  of  truth.     They  come  under  the  influence  also  of  the 
great  thoughts  of  the  great  men  of  other  days.     It  is  not 
strange  therefore  that  when   they  go  out  into  the  com- 
munity   they    lend    themselves    readily    to    civil    service 
reform,  or  to  whatever  may  chance  to  be  the  great  reform 
of  their  time.     For,  with  all   this    idealism,    the  colleges 
teach  history  and   philosophy.     Something  the  graduates 
know  also  of  the  science  of  government,  not  as  it  is  illus- 
strated  in  the  murky  waters  of  current  history,  but  as  it  is 
embodied  in  the  profound  teaching  of  past  politics  and  the 
great  utterances  of  great  leaders. 


355 


THEIR  HERITAGE  TO  US. 

DAVID   C.    ROBINSON. 

I  WAS  not  present  at  the  first  New  England  dinner  in 
December,  1620.  Some  of  my  speech-making  friends,  how- 
ever, have  just  assured  me  that  they  were  in  attendance  at 
that  notable  meal,  and  I  am  inclined  to  believe  them.  In 
vino  Veritas  was  a  cardinal  maxim  of  Puritan  faith,  and 
judging  by  that  rule,  if  my  associate  orators  do  not  tell  the 
truth  to-night,  they  never  will.  I  congratulate  the  society 
on  its  literal  reproduction  of  the  exact  bill  of  fare  enjoyed 
by  our  fathers  on  that  wintry  night  272  years  agone.  I  can 
see  them  now,  a  lank  and  hungry  company  around  just 
such  a  spread  as  this  on  Plymouth  Rock,  filling  their  hats 
with  hard  boiled  eggs  to  take  home  to  the  children,  and 
their  heads  with  something  harder  to  carry  back  to  connu- 
bial  welcome  when  the  feast  was  over. 


A  proper  estimate  of  the  Pilgrims  from  New  England 
can  hardly  be  reached  without  some  study  of  what  they 
left  behind  and  why  they  left  it.  This  involves  a  short 
and  truthful  glance  at  early  Pilgrim  history  and  methods. 
It  is  a  sad  commentary  on  the  dense  ignorance  which 
degrades  our  time,  that  eighty-six  annual  dinners  should 
have  come  and  gone — especially  gone  while  the  diners 
were  actual  strangers  to  the  events  and  individuals  they  ate 
and  drank  to  commemorate.  The  true  history  of  our 
Pilgrim  Fathers,  founders  of  a  civilization  whose  corner 
stone  was  a  Thanksgiving  dinner,  and  whose  superstruc- 
ture was  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  is  yet  unwritten. 
It  might  be  well  before  further  dyspepsia  has  disseminated 
the  ranks  of  this  self-denying  combination,  that  some  little 
attention  should  be  given,  with  such  measure  of  sobriety  as 
can  now  be  scared  up  in  this  department,  to  the  living 
question  of  who  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  were  ;  where  they 
came  from  ;  what  they  came  for  ;  how  they  came,  and  when 
they  got  here,  if  it  be  finally  conceded  that  they  ever  came 
at  all.  A  good  deal  of  complicated  history  might  perhaps 
be  unraveled  if  the  city  of  New  York  would  oftener  wrap 
the  mantle  of  humility  about  its  head  and  take  lessons  of 
those  Pilgrims  from  New  England,  who  brought  up  from 
the  county  of  Chemung,  and  established  there,  the  extra- 
ordinary system  of  mingled  politics  and  statesmanship 
which  has  excited  the  wonder  and  admiration  of  the  world. 

OUR    TURBULENT    ANCESTORS. 

The  Pilgrim  enterprise  is  supposed  to  have  originated  in 
a  church  row  in  England,  which  lead  our  turbulent  ances- 
tors to  make  a  still  more  turbulent  settlement  in  Holland 
after  having  caused  no  end  of  trouble  to  the  police,  and 
spent  from  thirty  to  sixty  days  of  peace  in  jail.  It  is  not 
definitely  settled  whether  their  war  with  the  police  grew 
out  of  a  divorce  case  in  the  congregation  or  the  slackness 
of  the  police  superintendent  with  reference  to  complaints  by 


I 


356 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


some  local  society  for  the  prevention  of  crime.  Their  dis- 
tinguished pastor  discovered  early  that  so  much  religion 
and  taste  for  liquor  could  never  be  long  content  in  any 
country  then  known  on  earth.  He  therefore  chartered  the 
leakiest  sailboat  in  the  bay  and  sent  his  congregation  adrift 
on  the  plea  of  civilizing  Indians  in  the,  at  that  time, 
unknown  America,  who  were  reputed  to  have  the  taste  for 
liquor,  but  not  that  for  religion.  At  the  last  moment  the 
discreet  pastor  went  ashore  to  get  his  umbrella  and  hotel 
bill,  deftly  bribing  the  hackman  to  get  him  left  at  the  sail- 
ing  hour.  This  unfeeling  desertion  caused  some  moaning 
at  the  bar,  or  over  it,  as  the  Mayflower  put  to  sea. 

Laugh  at  their  whims  and  rigid  tenets  as  we  may,  they 
have  left  us  a  heritage  unequaled  in  the  story  of  the  world. 
Theirs  was  a  mighty  struggle  for  all  that  may  ennoble  man 
or  make  him  better  than  his  fathers  were.  The  hopes  and 
fears  of  all  the  ages  centered  in  that  shaky  ship  bound 
westward  on  an  unknown  and  tempestuous  sea.  The  spirit 
of  the  free  was  with  that  little  bark,  as  each  day  gave  its 
light,  the  God  of  the  heroic  and  the  true  its  pilot,  when  the 
night  came  down  on  the  sea.  A  wild  and  stormy  ride 
from  shore  to  shore  ;  a  fierce  and  bitter  strife  with  fire 
and  flood,  savage  and  element,  their  daily  portion  as  they 
sail  and  when  they  rested  on  the  rocky  shore  they  called  at 
last  their  home.  What  wonder  that  they  cradled  there  at 
once  the  offspring  of  their  love  and  the  freedom  of  their 
kind  ;  what  wonder  that  from  their  sturdy  loins  sprang 
forth  a  race  of  giants,  fit  warriors  for  the  rights  of  genera- 
tions yet  to  be  ;  what  wonder  that  sires  and  sons  have 
laughed  to  scorn  the  fear  of  tempest  or  of  tyrant  in  service 
of  their  faith  through  all  the  years.  Well  sang  their  fav- 
orite bard,  of  sons,  as  he  might  have  sung  of  sires  and  their 
adopted  shore  : 


Wild  are  the  waves  which  lash  against  the  reefs  along  St.  George's 
bank. 

Cold  on  the  shore  of  Labrador  the  fog  lies  white  and  dank. 


FOREFATHERS'  DAY. 


357 


Through  storm  and  wave  and  blinding  mist,  stout  are  the  hearts 

that  man 
The  fishing  smacks  of  Marblehead,  the  sea  boats  of  Cape  Ann. 
The  cold  north  light  and  wintry  sun  glare  on  their  icy  forms, 
Bent   grimly   over  their   straining   lines  and  wrestling  with  the 

storms. 

A  hardy  race,  worthy  to  set  the  pattern  of  civilization 
and  liberty  to  the  mighty  people  who  to-night  affectionately 
called  them  *' fathers"  in  blood,  in  liberty,  love,  and  truth. 
All  that  nations  can  owe  to  founders  ;  all  that  children  can 
owe  to  parents  ;  all  that  truth  and  self-denial  can  owe  to 
their  especial  champions,  is  laid  upon  the  altar  of  their 
memory  to-night.  Peace  to  their  sacred  ashes,  those  Pil- 
grim Fathers  of  our  life.  Their  sacrifices  were  many  and 
their  joys  were  few.  Yet  somewhere  in  the  land  where 
faith  meets  its  reward  ;  somewhere  in  the  heaven  of  the 
good  and  the  pure  ;  somewhere  within  those  temples  of 
magnificent  justice  where  is  given  alike  reward  for  good 
and  punishment  for  evil  done  on  earth  ;  somewhere  beyond 
the  reach  of  human  toil  or  strife,  those  Pilo^rim  ancestors 
shall  be  given  meed  well-fitted  to  their  high  deservings  ; 
and 

Till  the  sun  grows  cold  and  the  stars  are  old, 
And  the  leaves  of  the  Judgment  Book  unfold, 

no  man  among  their  sons  shall  feel  within  his  veins  the 
bounding  of  their  consecrating  blood  without  thanks  for 
every  drop  that  links  him  to  their  heroic  lives. 


No  other  landing,  temporary  or  permanent,  upon  our 
own  or  upon  any  other  shore,  can  ever  usurp  their  title,  or 
ever  supersede  or  weaken  their  hold  upon  the  world's 
remembrance  and  regard. 

ROBERT    C.    WINTHROP. 


*'*'''-'''=-'^^*^-lSiiia}ttg*aa'ft^  -.if^j«-^j^j..t.fl:f...^^.»M.-M^.^=»«,.u.>.| 


35 S  THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 

PLYMOUTH  AND  ITS  SURROUNDINGS. 

All  this  Pilgrim  land  is  sacred  soil,  commemorated  by 
the  early  wanderings  of  that  adventurous  band  of  Christian 
explorers,  by  their  settlements,  and  by  the  history  of  later 
years.  Here  is  Plymouth,  looking  out  on  the  bay  where 
the  Mayflower  rode  at  anchor,  with  her  immortal  Rock  and 
her  graves  of  the  **  Fathers."  Here  is  Provincetown,  where 
the  Pilgrims  rirst  landed  and  where  the  New  England 
washing  day  was  christened.  Barnstable  is  here  with  many 
a  memory  of  those  old  days.  Pocasset  sits  like  a  queen  on 
the  green  shore,  fragrant  with  the  renown  of  the  dusky 
Indian  Wetamoo,  who  fought  like  a  lioness  to  save  her 
home  and  her  nation.  And  there,  too,  is  Mount  Hope,  the 
seat  of  those  royal  princes  Massasoit  and  Philip.  Through 
every  one  of  these  little  villages  and  among  these  forest- 
clad  hills  the  warwhoops  of  the  Wompanoags  of  old  time 
pealed  and  thundered.  At  Duxbury  you  can  see  the 
homes  of  Miles  Standish  and  of  John  Alden  and  his  wife 
Priscilla,  whose  romantic  courtship  our  great  poet  has  cele- 
brated in  melodious  verse. 

In  our  mind's  eye  we  can  see  the  little  shallop  anchor 
near  the  shore,  and  the  boatload  of  passengers  disembark 
on  the  icy  rocks  on  that  long  ago  December  day.  Then 
they  come  walking  up  the  hill,  just  as  in  the  famous  picture, 
old  men  and  matrons,  young  men  and  maidens,  and  the 
slight,  buoyant  figures  of  children.  There  is  the  dignified 
Carver,  the  venerable  Brewster,  the  doughty  Standish,  the 
enterprising  Bradford,  the  discreet  John  Alden  ;  and  there 
is  Rose  Standish,  soon  to  die,  and  Susannah  White  and  her 
boy  baby  Peregrine,  and  blushing  Priscilla  Mullins  and 
stately  Dorothy  Bradford  and  sweet  Mary  Chilton.  Steeple 
crowned  hats  and  silken  hoods,  steel  caps,  padded  doub- 
lets, and  Tudor  farthingales  all  pass  up  over  the  frozen 
ground,  and  the  site  is  chosen  for  a  resting  place. 

Neither  the  bay  nor  the  shore  can  have  changed  much 
since   that   day.     There   are   the   beaches   of  white  sand, 


FOREFATHERS'   DAY. 


359 


the  shore  in  places  exposed  to  the  ceaseless  rolling  of  the 

surf,  and  again  receiving  the  advances  of  the  tides  quietly 

without  the  turning  of  a  single  tiny  sand  crystal.     From 

the  rock    which  marks  the  landing  place   of   the  Pilgrim 

Fathers   away    round    to    the   "  White     Horse,"   beyond 

Manomet   and     Indian     Hill   to    Sandwich   line,   isolated 

bowlders,  rock  patches  and  masses,  and  craggy  formations 

alternate,  realizing  with  every  increase  of  the  ocean  breezes 

the  ideal  which  haunted  the  mind  of  the  poetess  when  she 

wrote  : 

The  breaking  waves  dashed  high 

On  a  stern  and  rock-bound  coast. 

Look  where  you  will,  for  each  scene  has  an  association 

and  a  histor3^     Off   to   the  right,  landward,  and  looking 

across  the  valley  or  gorge  through  which  runs  the  stream 

traced  by  the  Pilgrim  Billington  to  its  source,  is  "  Watson's 

Hill,"  thick  dotting  houses  and  estates  now  covering  the 

spots  where  once  the  Indian   sagamores  and  braves  held 

their  **  powwows "  and  celebrated  the  feasts   incident  to 

their   assemblages.     In   the   opposite  direction  the  great 

monument  shows  in    bold    relief,    its  foundations  resting 

where  once  Massasoit  and  Samoset  reigned  as  forest  kings, 

and  upon  grounds  whose  historic  association  is  probably 

only  surpassed  in  interest  by  that  unwritten  history  enacted 

since  the  creation.     Looking  seaward,  not  far  from  the 

point  of  the  long,  slender  beach,  the  "  Cow-yard,"  where 

the  Mayfloiver  lay  at  anchor  while  her  company  landed,  is 

plainly  visible  in  every  part  of  its  surface.     On  the  other 

side  and  near  the    Duxbury  shore  Clark's  Island,  named 

for  the  mate  of  the  Mayflower,  seems  to  float  upon  the 

water  and  lift  its  rounded  hills  and  greenest  tree  tops  in 

clear   contrast  to  the   sun-bleached    sands   which    stretch 

along  for  miles  beyond  and  behind.     There  the  Pilgrims 

worshiped   on  their  first    Sabbath,  in  a  temple  not  made 

with  hands. 

The  waves  around  were  roaring, 

The  chilly  winds  were  blowing. 


360 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASIOhr. 


Further  inland,  on  the  Duxbury  shore,  *'  Captain's  Hill  " 
with  Its  monument  to  Miles  Standish  capping  the  view  rises 
like  a  vast  pyramid  out  of  a  plain,  and  in  a  great  semi- 
circle beyond  the  horizon  settles  down,  forming  the  outlines 
of  the  famous  bay  on  the  far  side  of  which,  in  a  clear  day 
the  tip  end  of  Cape  Cod  may  be  distinctly  seen,  thus  bring- 
ing all  the  prominent  localities  made  famous  by  the  Pilgrims 
into  view  from  one  standpoint. 

Two  hundred  years  ago,  as  to-day,  Plymouth  occupied 
the  slope  of  a  hill,  stretching  eastward  toward  the  sea-coast 
with  a  broad  street  half  a  mile  long  leading  down  the  hilf 
and  another  street  crossing  it  in  the  middle. 

The  houses  were  constructed  of  hewn  planks,  with  gardens 
which  were  enclosed  behind  and  at  the  sides  with  the  same 
material.     At  the  end  of  the  streets  were  wooden  gates 
and  a  stockade  was  built  on   the  highest  ground  for  the 
mutual  defense  of  the  settlers.     In  the  center,  on  the  cross 
street,  stood  the  governor's   house,  before   which    was   a 
square  enclosure,  with  four  guns  mounted  so  as  to  command 
the  streets.     The  church  stood  upon  the  hill.     This  was  a 
large  flat-roofed  structure  made  of  thick  sawn  planks  sup. 
ported  by  sappling   beams,  upon  the  top  of  which  were 
placed  six  cannon,  and  where  a  guard  was  always  stationed 
to  watch  the  surrounding  country.     Hither  every  Sunday 
the  inhabitants  came  at  the   beat  of  the  drum,  the  men 
carrying  their  arms  with  them  for  fear  of  the  Indian  foe 

I  he  scenery  about  Plymouth  is  enchanting.     The  town 
boasts  of  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  ponds,  one  for  each 
day  of  the  calendar  year.     There  is  also  an  abundance  of 
woodland,  and  so  the  drives,  whether  alongshore  or  inland 
are  picturesquely  charming.  ' 

Even  apart  from  its  historic  associations  Plymouth  is 
pleasant  and  interesting,  and  those  who  visit  the  place  and 
confine  their  attention  to  Burial  Hill  and  Pilgrim  Hall  will 
lose  many  of  the  attractive  features  of  the  place. 

Morning  Star. 


FOREFATHERS'  DAY. 


361 


DEFENDING  THE   PURITAN  FATHERS* 

HON.    JAMES    RUSSELL    LOWELL. 

The  worst  kind  of  religion  is  no  religion  at  all,  and 
these  men  living  in  ease  and  luxury,  indulging  themselves 
in  the  amusement  of  going  without  religion,  may  be  thank- 
ful that  they  live  in  lands  where  the  gospel  they  neglect 
has  tamed  the  beastliness  and  ferocity  of  the  men,  who,  but 
for  Christianity,  might  long  ago  have  eaten  their  carcasses 
like  the  South  Sea  Islanders. 

I  fear  that  when  we  indulge  ourselves  in  the  amusement 
of  going  without  a  religion,  we  are  not,  perhaps,  aware 
how  much  we  are  sustained  at  present  by  an  enormons 
mass  all  about  us  of  religious  feeling  and  religious  con- 
victions ;  so  that,  whatever  it  may  be  safe  for  us  to  think 
— for  us  who  have  had  great  advantages,  and  have  been 
brought  up  in  such  a  way  that  a  certain  moral  direction 
has  been  given  to  our  character — I  do  not  know  what 
would  become  of  the  less  favored  classes  of  mankind  if 
they  undertook  to  play  the  same  game. 


THOUGHTS  PERTINENT  TO  FOREFATHERS' 

DAY. 

New  occasions  teach  new  duties  ;  time  makes  ancient  good 
uncouth  ; 

They  must  upward  still  and  onward  who  would  keep 
abreast  of  truth. 

Lo  !  before  us  gleam  her  camp  fires.  We  ourselves  must 
Pilgrims  be  ; 

Launch  our  Mayflo7ver  and  steer  boldly  through  the  des- 
perate winter  sea. 

Nor  attempt  the  Future's  portal  with  the  Past's  blood- 
rusted  key. 

JAMES   R.    LOWELL. 
*  From  an  after-dinner  speech. 


JSA.a.1-*  .J,aB.wA>wt.:f*  JLfAJ-%frJ'j>Ly'  -Ac 


Jj**      1  ■ftuS-   ■■    ^,'>*h.tt^^*'..0'-     »i>        ji> IWi    ».jft-'J.'*-*   - 


3^2 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


France  lost  her  Pilgrim  element  in  the  expulsion  and 

massacre   of   the    Huguenots,   and    her    noblest   political 

aspirations  have  lacked  the  moral  strength  that  comes  of  a 

pure  and  vigorous    religious  faith.  .  .  But   the  men   who 

came  hither  brought  the  fundamental  conception  of  man 

restored  as  a  child  of  God.     Personality  was  their  roof 

Idea,  the  personal  soul  linked  to  the  personal  God  ;  and 

.    this  was  greater  than  king  or  parliament,  this  was  greater 

than  church  or  bishop,  and    no  combination  against  this 

could  ever  crush  it. 

REV.    DR.    J.    p.    THOMPSON. 

Give  a  thing  time  ;  if  it  can  succeed  it  is  a  right  thing. 
Look  now  at  American   Saxondom  ;  and  at  that  little  fact 
of    the    sailing    of    the    Mayflower   two    hundred    years 
ago  .  .  .   !     Were  we  of  open  sense  as  the  Greeks  were, 
we  had   found  a  poem   here  ;  one  of  nature's  own  poems,' 
such  as  she  writes  in    broad  facts  over  great   continents' 
tor  It   was   properly  the   beginning  of   America.     There 
were  straggling  settlers  in  America  before,  some  material 
as  If  a  body  was  there  ;  but  the  soul  of  it  was  first  this. 
They  thought  the  earth  would    yield   them  food,   if  they 
tilled    honestly;    the    everlasting    heaven    would    stretch 
there  too,  overhead  ;  they  should  be   left  in  peace  to  pre- 
pare for  eternity  by  living  well  in  this  world  of  time,  wor- 
shiping in  what  they  thought  the  true,  not  the  idolatrous, 
way.  .  .  Hah  !    these    men,   I    think,    had   a   work  !     The 
weak  thing,  weaker  than  a  child,  becomes  strong  in  one 
day,  if  It  be  a  true  thing.     Puritanism  was  onlv  despicable, 
laughable  then,  but  nobody  can  manage  to  laugh  at  it  now! 

THOMAS   CARLYLE. 

With  our  sympathy  for  the  wrong  doer  we  need  the  old 
Puritan  and  Quaker  hatred  of  wrong  doing  ;  with  our  just 
tolerance  of  men  and  opinions  a  righteous  abhorrence  of 
sin.  .  .  The  true  life  of  a  nation  is  in  its  personal 
morality,  and  no  excellence  of  constitution  and   laws  can 


FOREFATHERS'  DAY. 


363 


avail  much  if  the  people  lack  purity  and  integrity.  Cul- 
ture, art,  refinement,  care  for  our  own  comfort  and  that  of 
others  are  well,  but  truth,  honor,  reverence,  and  fidelity  to 
duty  are  indispensable.  .  .  It  is  well  for  us  if  we  have 
learned  to  listen  to  the  sweet  persuasion  of  the  Beatitudes, 
but  there  are  crises  in  all  lives  which  require  also  the 
emphatic  "  Thou  shalt  not  "  of  the  Decalogue  which  the 
founders  wrote  on  the  gate  posts  of  their  common- 
wealth. .  .  The  great  struggle  through  which  we  have 
passed  [the  Civil  War]  has  taught  us  how  much  we  owe  to 
the  men  and  women  of  the  Plymouth  Colony — the  noblest 
ancestry  that  ever  a  people  looked  back  to  with  love  and 
reverence. 

JOHN    G.    WHITTIER. 

Our  fathers  brought  with  them  from  England  two  price- 
less possessions — the  common  law  and  King  James'  Bible — 
the  former  a  vital  organism,  not  of  symmetrical  form  and 
graceful  outline,  but  full  of  the  vigorous  sap  of  liberty  and 
drawing  its  growth  from  the  soil  of  the  popular  heart ;  the 
latter,  apart  from  its  transcendent  claims  as  the  revelation 
of  God  to  man,  in  a  purely  intellectual  aspect  the  most 
precious  treasure  that  any  modern  nation  enjoys,  preserving 
as  it  does  our  noble  language  at  its  best  point  of  growth — 
just  between  antique  ruggedness  and  modern  refinement — 
embalming  immortal  truths  in  words  simple,  strong,  and 
sweet,  that  charm  the  child  at  the  mother's  knee,  that  nerve 
and  calm  the  soldier  in  the  dread  half  hour  before  the 
shock  of  battle,  that  comfort  and  sustain  the  soul  that  is 
entering  upon  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death.  .  .  The 
progress  of  our  country  is  not  traced  by  the  camp,  the  caf^^ 
the  theater,  and  the  prison,  but  by  the  meeting  house,  the 
schoolhouse,  the  courthouse,  and  the  ballot-box — all  the 
legitimate  fruits  of  the  Bible  and  the  common  law. 

HON.    GEORGE    S.    HILLARD. 

The  introduction  of  liberal  education  by  the  earliest 
settlers  of  New  England  was  the  natural  consequence  of 


364 


THOUGHTS  FOR   THE   OCCASION. 


their  acquaintance  with   the   English  universities       They 
brought  to  the  western  world  the  ideas  that  were  dominant 
in  Oxford  and  Cambridge.     A  recent  lecture  of  Professor 
Jebb  exhibits  the  development  of  liberal  education  in  those 
seats  of  learning,  during  the  four  centuries  which  preceded 
the  settlement  of  New  England.     Our  colonies  were  planted 
at  a  time  when  the  discipline  of  collegiate  residence  over- 
powered  the  freedom  of  university  life,  and  also  when  a 
theological  bias  and  a  classical  bias  controlled  the  instruc- 
tions.     These  ideas  were  dominant  for  at  least  two  cen- 
turies in  Harvard  and  Yale,  and  by  inheritance  in  the  other 
colleges  of  this  country  which   were   governed   by   their 
example.     It  may  be  true  this  was  a  glacial  epoch,  as  Mr 
Charles   Francis   Adams   has  called    it,  and    that  Cotton 
Mather  or  Jonathan  Edwards  were  bowlders  left  by  the 
receding  ice,  but  those  who  take  this  view  must  account  for 
the  appearance  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  Professor  Winthrop 
Count  Rumford,  Samuel  Johnson,  the  friend  of  Berkeley' 
Jonathan  Trumbull,  and  hosts  of  good  citizens  who  made 
New  England  the  abode  of  law,  order,  thrift,  and  content- 
ment prior  to  1760,  when  the  age  of  independent  statesman- 
ship began. 

PRESIDENT    D.    C.    OILMAN, 

JOHNS   HOPKINS    UNIVERSITY. 

No  other  rock  is  so  certain  to  strike  a  patriotic  spark  in 
the  heart  of  an  American.  Wherever  men  go  forth  to  new 
fields  or  engage  in  new  missions,  to  exalt  humanity  and 
build  up  the  kingdom  of  God,  inspired  by  love  of  religious 
liberty  and  guided  by  the  new  light  that  ever  breaks  from 
God  s  Word,  they  can  take  with  them  no  more  sacred 
memento  of  the  noble  past,  and  nothing  more  certain  to 
fire  with  patriotism  and  religious  fervor  every  honest 
endeavor  for  the  future,  than  a  son's  portion  of  the  spirit  of 
the  godly  men  and  women  whose  memory  we  celebrate 
to-day,  of  which  Plymouth  Rock  is  the  monument  and 
emblem. 

REV.    W.    C.    BARTON. 


FOREFATHERS'  DAY. 


365 


The  whole  course  of  the  Protestant  Reformation,  from 
the  thirteenth  century  to  the  nineteenth,  is  coincident  with 
the  transfer  of  the  world's  political  center  of  gravity  from 
the  Tiber  and  the  Rhine  to  the  Thames  and  the  Mississippi. 
The  whole  career  of  the  men  who  speak  English  has 
within  this  period  been  the  most  potent  agency  in  this 
transfer.  In  these  gigantic  processes  of  evolution  we  can- 
not mark  beginnings  or  endings  by  years,  hardly  even  by 
centuries.  But  among  the  significant  events  which 
prophesied  the  final  triumph  of  the  English  over  the 
Roman  idea,  perhaps  the  most  significant — the  one  which 
marks  most  incisively  the  dawning  of  the  new  era — was  the 
migration  of  English  Puritans  across  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  to 
repeat  in  a  new  environment  and  on  a  far  grander  scale  the 
work  which  their  forefathers  had  wrought  in  Britain. 
The  voyage  of  the  Mayflower  was  not  in  itself  the  greatest 
event  in  this  migration,  but  it  serves  to  mark  the  era,  and 
it  is  only  when  we  study  it  in  the  mood  awakened  by  the 
general  considerations  here  set  forth  that  we  can  properly 
estimate  the  historic  importance  of  the  great  Puritan 
exodus. 

JOHN    FISKE. 


THE  GRANT  MONUMENT,  RIVERSIDE  PARK,  NEW  YORK. 


GRANT'S   BIRTHDAY. 

Biographical. — Ulysses  S.  Grant,  eighteenth  President  of  the 
United  States,  was  born  of  good  English  ancestry,  at  Point 
Pleasant,  Clermont  County,  O.,  April  27,  1822.  His  grandfather, 
Noah  Grant,  fought  at  the  battle  of  Lexington,  and  was  promoted 
to  the  rank  of  captain.  Ulysses  attended  school  at  the  Academy 
at  Ripley,  O.,  after  which  he  entered  the  Military  Academy  at 
West  Point,  where  he  was  graduated  May  15,  1839,  being  then 
scarcely  eighteen  years  of  age.  He  ranked  as  a  fair  general 
scholar,  and  excelled  in  mathematics. 

He  took  part  in  the  Mexican  War,  distinguishing  himself  for 
coolness  and  bravery,  and  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  captain 
in  1853.  He  remained  with  his  regiment  until  1854,  when  he 
resigned,  and  in  complete  poverty  returned  to  private  life.  He 
tried  farming  and  real  estate  business  with  but  moderate  success, 
after  which  he  became  a  partner  with  his  father  in  the  leather 
trade,  at  Galena,  111.  Here  he  remained  until  President  Lincoln 
issued  his  call  for  seventy-tive  thousand  troops.  He  wrote  to  the 
authorities  at  Washington  tendering  his  services,  but  received  no 
reply.  He  marched  to  Springfield  at  the  head  of  a  company  of 
volunteers.  Governor  Yates  needed  some  one  with  military 
knowledge  to  assist  him,  and  so  made  him  his  mustering  officer. 
He  soon  held  a  colonel's  commission,  and  two  months  later  was 
made  brigader-general.  On  the  15th  of  February,  1862,  he 
captured  Fort  Donelson,  after  much  hard  fighting,  which  was  the 
first  great  victory  of  the  war.  His  reply  to  the  rebel  general  who 
attempted  to  delay  his  operations,  "  I  propose  to  move  immedi- 
ately on  your  works,"  was  caught  and  repeated  all  through  the 
country.  Grant's  reputation  as  a  fighting  general  was  now 
established.  At  Pittsburg  Landing  he  was  surprised  ;  his  army 
and  his  reputation  suffered  somewhat,  but  he  grasped  victory  in 
his  defeat. 

The  capture  of  Vicksburg,  and  the  consequent  opening  of  the 
Mississippi  River,  was  hailed  with  the  wildest  delight  all  over  the 
North,  and  by  common  consent  Grant  became,  in  fact,  the 
generalissimo  of  the  forces  of  the  United  States.  His  rapid  pro- 
motions had  no  evil  effects  upon  him.  Placed  in  command  of 
seven  hundred  thousand  armed  men,  he  announced  that  his  head- 
quarters would  be  in  the  field,  and  promptly  inaugurated  two 
grand  movements,  the  success  of  which  ended  the  struggle.  One 
of  these,  against  Atlanta,  Ga.,  he  committed  to  General  Sherman ; 

369 


370 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION. 


the  other,  against  Richmond,  he  conducted  himself     Driven  from 

his  stronghold.  Lee,  with  the  remnant  of  a  great  army  re^rea^^^ 

o  Appomattox  Court  House,  where  he  surreLered  tTcrant  and 

the  war  ended.     Grant's  conduct  in  this  great  triumph  was  mLked 

b^th  s.^e"''  ''''  '"''''''^  P"'^^  '^°"^  ^^^^  ^^^^--^'^  enemies  on 
On  the  2ist  of  May.  1868,  Grant  was  nominated  for  the  Presi 
dency,  and  was  elected  over  Horatio  Seymour  by  a  large  ma foH 

W  r^^T.""  ^T  '"'1^  ^'-^t-f^-tion  (hat  heLs  rfnom'S* 
June  5,   1872.  and  was  elected    over   Horace  Greeley      President 
Grant  was  an  honest,  virtuous  executive  officer      Hirtenacitv  fnr 
h.s  fnends,  leading  to  the  exclusion  of  more  capable  men     o^me 
what  dnnmed  the  glory  of  his  administration       ^  '         ^" 

in  May,  1877,  he  made  an  extended  tour  around  the  world  and 
his  receptions  were  perfect  ovations.     He  was  a  leading  candirte 

Ss.  Jui;  23?-i88"5'  '"'  ''  ''^""^  ^^^^^^^-  --  Saratoga 


OUR  VICTORIOUS  GENERAL. 

CHAUNCEY    M.    DEPEW,   AT    THE    UNVEILING    OF    THE    GRANT 
MONUMENT,   GALENA,   ILL.,    1891. 

Thirty  years  ago  your  city  of  Galena  numbered  amon^ 
Its  citizens  a  man  so  modest  that  he  was  little  known  in  the 
community  ;  a  merchant  so  humble  that  his  activities  were 
not  felt  m  your   business.     Three   years   later   his   fame 
illummed   the  earth,  and  the  calculations  of  every  com- 
mercial  venture  and   of  every  constructive   enterprise   in 
the  country  were  based  upon  the  success  or  failure  of  his 
plans.     He  was  then  supporting  his  family  on  a  thousand 
dollars  a  year,  and   before    the    third    anniversary   of   his 
departure  from  your  city  he  was  spending  four  millions  a 
day  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union.     One  of  the  patriotic 
meetings,  common  at  that  period  all  over  the  North   was 
held  here  to  sustain  President  Lincoln  in  his  call  for  seventy 
five  thousand  men  to  suppress  the  Rebellion.     The  ardor 
and  eloquence  of  John  A.  Rawlins  so  impressed  an  auditor 
whom  none  of  the  congressmen  and  prominent  citizens  on 
the  platform  had  ever  met,  that  he  subsequently  made  the 


GRANT'S  BIRTHDAY. 


371 


orator  his  chief  of  staff  and  secretary  of  war.  Someone 
discovered  that  Captain  Grant,  a  graduate  of  West  Point 
and  a  veteran  of  the  Mexican  War,  lived  in  this  city,  and 
he  was  invited  to  preside  at  the  formation  of  a  military 
company.  He  was  so  diffident  that  few  heard  his  speech 
of  three  sentences,  but  in  that  short  address  was  condensed 
all  the  eloquence  and  logic  of  the  time  :  *'You  know  the 
object  for  which  we  are  assembled.  Men  are  needed  to 
preserve  the  Union.  What  is  your  pleasure?"  He 
organized  and  drilled  that  company,  and  led  it  to  the 
Governor  at  Springfield.  By  that  march  Galena  lost  a 
citizen  and  the  Republic  found  its  savior.  .  .  At  the 
critical  hour  during  the  battle  of  Sedan,  when  the  German 
emperor  and  Bismarck  were  anxiously  waiting  the  result, 
and  watching  their  silent  general,  an  ofificer  rode  up  and 
announced  that  two  corps  of  the  German  army  marching 
from  opposite  directions  had  met  at  a  certain  hour.  The 
movement  closed  in  the  French  and  ended  the  war.  Von 
Moltke  simply  said  :  *'  The  calculation  was  correct."  Grant 
had  not  the  scientific  training  and  wonderful  staff  of  the 
Prussian  field  marshal,  but  he  possessed  in  the  highest 
degree  the  same  clear  vision  and  accurate  reasoning.  The 
calculation  was  always  correct  and  the  victory  sure.  His 
plans  did  not  contemplate  defeat.  The  movement  he 
always  made  was  "  advance."  The  order  he  always  gave 
was  ''forward."  The  western  armies  never  knew  their 
resistless  power  until  they  felt  the  hand  of  this  master. 
No  better  or  braver  body  of  soldiers  ever  marched  or 
fought  than  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  It  lost  battles 
through  bad  generalship,  and  generals  by  camp  jealousies 
and  Capitol  intrigues.  Thousands  of  its  heroes  fell  in 
fruitless  fights,  but  it  never  wavered  in  its  superb  confidence 
and  courage.  At  last  it  found  a  leader  worthy  of  itself, 
and,  after  scores  of  bloody  victories,  ended  the  Rebellion 
under  Grant.  There  have  been  many  Presidents  of  the 
United  States  and  the  roll  will  be  indefinitely  extended. 
We  have  had  a  number  of  brilliant  soldiers,  but  only  one 


372 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


great  general.     The  honors  of  civil  life  could  add  nothing 
to  the  fame  of  General  Grant,  and  it  has  been  often  argued 
that  his  career  in  the  presidency  detracted  from  his  reputa- 
tion.     Such   will    not   be   the   judgment   of   the    impartial 
historian.     His  mistakes  were  due  to  a  quality  which  is  the 
noblest  of  human  virtues,  loyalty  to  friends.     Even  at  this 
short  distance  from  scenes  so  vivid  in  our  memories,  party 
rancor  has  lost  its  bitterness  and  blindness.     The  President 
will  be  judged  not  by  the  politics  or  policy  of  the  hour, 
but  according  to  the  permanent  value  to  the   republic  of 
the  measures  which  he  promoted  or  defeated.     The  Geneva 
Conference  and   the  judicial   settlement  of   the   Alabama 
claims  will  grow  in  importance   and   grandeur  with  time 
As  the  nations  of  the  earth   disband  their  armaments  and 
are  governed  by  the   laws  of  reason  and   humanity,  they 
will  recur  to  this  beneficent  settlement  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain,  and  General  Grant's   memorable 
words  upon  receiving  the  freedom  of  the  city  of  London  : 
**  Although  a  soldier  by  education  and  profession,  I  have 
never  felt  any  sort  of  fondness  for  war,  and  I  have  never 
advocated  it,  except  as  a  means  of  peace  "—and  they  will 
hail  him  as  one  of  the  benefactors  of  mankind.     Through 
the  verses  of  great  poets  runs  a  familiar  strain,  through  the 
works  of  great  composers  an  oft-repeated  tune,  and  through 
the  speeches  of  great  orators  a  recurring  and  characteristic 
thought.     These  are  the  gems  which  exhibit  the  moving 
forces  of  their  minds.     During  the  war  ''  I  propose  to  move 
immediately  upon  your  works,"  **  Unconditional  surrender," 
"  I  shall  take  no  backward  step,"  ''  I  propose  to  fight  it  out 
on  this  line  if  it  takes  all  summer,"  are  the  beacon  lights 
of  the  plans  and  strategy  of  Grant  the  soldier.     At  Appo- 
mattox, -  The  war  is  over,"  ♦*  The  rebels  are  our  country- 
men again";  at  the  threshold  of  the  presidency,  "Let  us 
have  peace";  on  his  bed  of  agony  and   death  at   Mount 
McGregor,  when  his  power  of  speech  was  gone,  writing  to 
a  Confederate  general  by  his  bedside,  ''  Much  as  I  suffer,  I 
do  it  with  pleasure,  if  by  that  suffering  can  be  accomplished 


GRANT'S  BIRTHDAY. 


373 


\ 


the  union  of  my  country,"  are  the  indices  of  the  labors,  the 
aspirations,  and  the  prayer  of  Grant,  the  statesman  and  the 
patriot. 


NONE  BUT    HIMSELF  CAN   BE   HIS   PARALLEL. 

REV.   H.   W.   BOLTON. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  he  was  comparatively 
unknown,  even  to  the  Governor  of  his  own  State,  who  said 
to  Mr.  Washburn  :  "Illinois  has  money  enough,  and  men 
enough,  but  no  one  man  of  skill  and  military  genius  suffi- 
cient to  organize  and  drill  her  soldiers." 

"  Call  Captain  Grant  of  Galena." 

"  Captain  Grant  ? "  said  Governor  Yates.  "  Who  is  Cap- 
tain Grant?" 

Thus  our  dead  hero  waited  to  be  lifted  up,  and  brought 
to  notice  before  the  world,  that  men  might  see  him,  and 
know  of  his  power. 

None  can,  by  searching,  find  out  man,  until  circumstances 
of  sufficient  importance  lead  him  to  disclose  the  secrets  of 
his  own  power. 

Grant  was  not  a  creator  of  circumstances ;  had  not 
opportunities  sought  him,  the  world  would  have  been 
ignorant  of  the  gifts  God  stored  in  him. 

Entering  the  storm,  almost  unknown,  he  eagerly  sought 
for  such  fields  as  Donelson,  Shiloh,  Vicksburg,  Chick- 
amauga,  1'he  Wilderness,  Spottsylvania,  Petersburg,  and 
Appomattox  ;  and  ever  after  was  known  as  the  hero  of 
Appomattox. 

Thus  in  four  years  a  man  comparatively  unknown  has 
come  to  be  one  of  the  best  known  men  in  the  world,  by 
being  lifted  up. 

In  keeping  with  this,  we  find  that  certain  principles, 
after  sleeping  for  ages  undisturbed  in  the  pathway  of 
nations,  have  suddenly  developed  into  factors  in  the 
world's  progress. 


\,  jsSsasKnS^  ■ae.Ji.MM.t.^-iML^^ajai.iwfafijag.-ai  ■..A»ia3«mi».jjjfc..-jtMd8Maiaj«  ■■^-■At:daieMB>--s<iA^j.:;^ 


374 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


History  is  replete  with  illustrations  of  this  fact.     Take 
the  mission  of  electricity,  which  was  a  matter  of  discourse 
as  early  as  600  years  b.  c.  ;  and  yet  it  slept  undeveloped 
and  undisturbed  in  the  pathway  of  man  for  centuries,  wait- 
ing for  some  brain  with  force  enough  to  lift  it.     The  world 
waited  for  the  voice  that  now  speaks  ;  but  waited  in  silence, 
employing  birds,   horses,  and  steam   to  carry   news.     Not 
until  the  sixteenth  century  did  men  know  of  its  power  ; 
and  only  in  the  nineteenth  did  man  lift  it  up,  and  turn  the 
attention  of  the  race  toward  its  wonders.     No  ;    it  must 
wait  until  Morse  could  persuade  an  American  Congress  to 
try  the  experiment.     He,  with  convictions  all-controlling, 
conquered   the  indifference  of   that  whole   body,  and  led 
them  to  action.     Yet  in  all  the  centuries  electricity  was  the 
same— the  free  gift  of  God  to  man— waiting  to  speak  and 
burn,  when    once    intelligently   employed.     This  principle 
holds  good  in  all  conditions  of  life  known  to  man. 

He  possessed  that  broad,  philanthropic  spirit,  and  that 
unselfish  generosity  of  soul,  that  is  born  of  a  Christian 
faith  ;  and  that  ungrudgingly  contributes  its  meed  of  merit 
to  high  and  low,  rich  and  poor,  conspicuous  and  obscure. 
After  the  fall  of  Fort  Donelson,  when  the  soldiers  in  an 
exuberance  of  delight  were  glorying  over  the  accomplished 
victory.  General  Grant  sat  quietly  and  unmoved  in  the  midst 
of  their  shouts,  and  after  a  little  he  quietly  raised  his  head 
and  said  :  ''Comrades,  we  must  not  forget  that  it  is  God 
who  gives  us  victory."  Standing  high  above  envy  or 
jealousy,  having  no  personal  purposes  to  serve,  but  only 
a  desire  to  do  his  duty  before  God  and  his  country,  he 
contributes  with  the  most  liberal  generosity  to  the  merit  of 
the  generals,  great  and  small,  who  assisted  in  the  restora- 
tion of  the  Union.  On  that  memorable  Fourth  of  July, 
after  the  fall  of  Vicksburg,  when  dispatches  of  congratula- 
tion  were  reaching  him  from  all  great  men  and  all  cities 
of  the  North,  and  when  his  subordinates  were  casting  their 
praises  at  his  feet,  he  looked  coolly  around  upon  his 
adulators  and  said  :     "  Let  us  not  forget  the  brave  soldiers 


GRANT'S  BIRTHDAY. 


375 


who  have  done  the  watching  and  the  fighting.  The  glory 
belongs  to  them."  Thus,  ever  and  always  unmindful  of  him- 
self, with  Christian  spirit  he  gave  praise  to  others.  It  was 
this  spirit  that  prompted  him  on  the  day  when  General  Lee 
stood  before  him  and  offered  him  his  sword — a  token  of 
surrender.  General  Grant  said  :  "General  Lee,  keep  that 
sword  ;  you  have  won  it  by  your  gallantry."  And  when  at 
that  hour  the  Union  soldiers  were  wont  to  show  signs  of 
rejoicing  over  the  glorious  victory  and  the  return  of  peace, 
the  great-hearted,  the  warm-hearted,  Christian-hearted 
Grant  requested  that  they  abstain  from  all  expressions  of 
joy,  saying  :  "  These  are  our  countrymen  and  our  brothers 
again."  No  pomp,  no  show,  no  parade,  but  a  broad 
Christian  manhood,  doing  unto  others  as  he  would  they 
should  do  unto  him. 

Our  unconquerable  hero  has  gone  forward,  until  at  last 
he  has  been  called  to  mingle  in  the  Court  of  the  Most 
High,  and  when  the  roll  has  been  called  for  the  last  time, 
when  the  last  reveille  has  been  sounded,  when  the  last 
battle  has  been  fought,  the  honored  name  of  Ulysses 
S.  Grant  will  be  found  on  the  unchanging  pages  of  history 
as  one  whom  God  raised  up  for  a  special  work  ;  and  history 
will  show  how  nobly  was  that  work  done,  how  fearlessly 
were  our  armies  led  to  victory  by  the  greatest  military 
leader  of  modern  times.  A  leader  who  battled  not  for  the 
advancement  of  his  own  interests — not  that  he  might  be  at 
the  head  of  an  empire,  but  prompted  by  his  love  of  right, 
he  fought  that  the  millions  in  bondage  should  be  slaves  no 
more,  and  for  the  triumph  of  right  and  the  preservation 
of  the  Union. 


THE  GRANDEUR  OF  GRANT'S  CHARACTER. 

GEORGE  W.   BUNGAY. 

Without  the  crown,  save  that  of  laurel,  we  claim  that  he 
is  a  kingly  man.  Not  having  in  his  country  a  throne 
hereditary,  we  enthrone  him  in  our  hearts.     I  am  not  speak- 


376 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


ing  of  him  in  a  political  sense.  Heeding  no  imperial 
scepter,  we  bow  to  the  scepter  of  his  intelligence  as  a  noble 
and  trustworthy  citizen.  '^  To  err  is  human."  He  has 
made  mistakes,  and  shown  that  greatness  is  not  exempt 
from  some  of  the  faults  of  the  race.  Von  Moltke,  the  dis- 
tinguished German  soldier,  could  hold  his  tongue  in  seven 
different  languages.  General  Grant  kept  silent  when  speak- 
ing  was  hazardous  in  the  field  and  at  the  White  House. 

The  critic  who  may  have  nothing  to  commend  himself 
except    his   well-brushed    clothes,  says   that    Grant    is  not 
sufficiently  particular  in  the  arrangement  of  his  coat  and 
necktie.     Thackeray  said  that  George  IV.  had  on  his  per- 
son an   overcoat,  a  dresscoat,  a  waistcoat,  and  a   flannel 
coat,  and  that  was  all  there  was  of  him.     Let  the  snob  make 
the  application.     The  same  type  of  fault-finding  humanity 
found  a  similar  objection  to  Horace  Greeley,  because  he 
did  not  copy  the  pattern  of  his  clothes  from  the  fashion 
plates.     Others,  who  think  they  were  born  to  govern,  and 
to  have  their  fingers  in  rings,  wonder  why  so  much  fuss  is 
made  about  a  man  who  has  retired  to  private  life,  and  who 
no  longer  has  official  -  pap  "  at  his  disposal.     These  men, 
to  use  the  language  of  Charles  Townsend,  have  "  neither 
grammar   nor  virtue,"  nor   gratitude,  nor   appreciation  of 
great  service.     As  the  suns  throw  off  their  scintillations, 
and  a  spark  becomes  a  revolving  center  clothed  with  light,' 
and  the  Creator  fashions  it  into  a  star,  so  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  emerges  from  the  clouds  of  smoke  and  hurricanes  of 
flame  and  shines  out  in   the   firmament  of  history  a  star 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  poisoned  arrows  of  envy  and  dis- 
loyalty  that  are  aimed  at  him. 


GRANT'S    CHARACTER. 

HON.  J.   T.    HEADLEV. 

The  main  points  in  General  Grant's  character  are  clearly 
brought  out  in  the  life  he  lived,  not  only  those  of  the  great 
soldier,  but  that  of  a  statesman  and  private  citizen.     No'^man 


GRANT'S  BIRTHDAY. 


377 


has  ever  been  presented  to  the  view  of  the  public  in  cir- 
cumstances and  conditions  so  varied,  and  hence  so  well 
calculated  to  develop  the  character  in  every  respect,  as  he. 
As  a  great  soldier  leading  our  armies  to  victory,  he  first 
attracts  the  eyes  of  the  world.  His  courage,  though  lofty 
and  steadfast,  was  not  of  that  fiery,  chivalric  kind  which 
dazzles  the  public.  He  was  not  borne  up  in  action  by  the 
enthusiasm  and  pride  of  the  warrior  ;  but  apparently 
unconscious  of  danger,  made  battle  a  business  which  was 
to  be  performed  with  a  clear  head  and  steady  nerves.  His 
coolness  in  deadly  peril  was  wonderful.  What  was  once 
said  of  Marshal  Ney  applies  forcibly  to  him  :  *'  \\\  battle 
he  could  literally  shut  up  his  mind  to  the  one  object  he  had 
in  view."  The  overthrow  of  the  enemy  absorbed  every 
thought  within  him,  and  he  had  none  to  give  to  danger  or 
death.  Where  he  placed  his  mind  he  held  it,  and  not  all 
the  uproar  and  confusion  of  battle  could  divert  it.  He 
would  not  allow  himself  to  see  anything  else  than  the  one 
object  in  view,  and  hence  was  almost  as  insensible  to  the 
dangers  around  him  as  a  deaf  and  dumb  and  blind  man 
would  be.  He  himself  once  expressed  the  true  secret  of 
his  calmness,  when,  after  one  of  those  exhibitions  of  com- 
posure amid  the  most  horrid  carnage,  an  officer  asked  him 
if  he  never  felt  fear,  he  replied  :  '■^  I  never  had  timer  This 
was  another  way  of  saying  that  fear  and  danger  had  noth- 
ing to  do  with  the  object  before  him,  and  therefore  he 
would  not  suffer  his  mind  to  rest  on  them  for  a  single 
moment.  This  wonderful  power  of  concentrating  all  his 
faculties  on  a  given  point  was  strikingly  characteristic  of 
Grant.  In  tenacity  of  will,  also,  he  was  like  Ney,  who 
would  7iot  be  beaten ;  and  in  the  last  extremity  rallied  like  a 
dying  man  for  a  final  blow,  and  then  planted  it  where  the 
clearest  practical  wisdom  indicated.  Like  Ney,  too,  he  was 
naturally  of  a  sluggish,  indolent  nature,  which  requires 
great  crises  to  thoroughly  arouse.  There  are  some  men 
in  this  world  possessing  immense  mental  power,  who  yet, 
from  mere  inertness,  pass  through  life  with  poor  success. 


378 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


GRANT'S  BIRTHDAY. 


379 


m 


Lighter  natures  outstrip  them  in    the    race  for  wealth   or 
position,  and    the   strength    they    really    possess   is    never 
known,  because  it  has  never  been  called  out.     It  never  is 
called  out  by  ordinary  events.     They  were  made  for  great 
emergencies,  and   if  these  do  not  arise,  they  seem  almost 
made  in  vain  ;  at  least  these  extraordinary  powers  appear  to 
be  given  them  in  vain.     Grant  was  one  of  these      He  was 
like  a  great  wheel,  on  which  mere  rills  of  water  may  drop 
forever  without  moving  it,  or  if  they  succeed  in  disturbing 
Its  equilibrium,  only  make  it  accomplish  a  partial  revolu- 
tion.     It  needs  an  immense  body  of  water  to  make  it  roll 
and  then  it  revolves  with  a  power  and  majesty  that  awe  the 
beholder.     No  slight  obstructions  then  can  arrest  its  mighty 
sweep.    Acquiring  momentum  with  each  revolution,  it  crushes 
to  atoms  everything  thrust  before  it  to  check  its  motion 

The  victories  he  won  are  evidence  to  the  whole  world  of 
his  great  ability  as  a  military  leader  ;  but  he  also  showed  a 
remarkable  power  in  one  respect  that  has  hardly  been  com- 
mented upon-the  power  of  handling  large  armies.  Napo- 
leon  declared  that  not  more  than  one  or  two  generals 
besides  himself  in  all  Europe  could  maneuver  a  hundred 
thousand  men  on  the  field  of  battle.  Grant  did  more  than 
this  ;  and  the  manner  in  which  he  handled  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  on  the  route  from  the  Rapidan  to  Richmond  was 
more  astonishing  than  the  winning  of  a  great  battle. 

But  the  supreme  will,  despotic  authority,  and  the  relent- 
less pursuit  of  an  enemy  indispensable  in  a  great  com- 
mander, disappeared  when  he  laid  down  the  sword  and 
became  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  Union.  Not  a  trace  of 
the  military  man  remained,  and  his  whole  thoughts  were 
on  peace  and  the  supremacy  of  law.  To  the  foemen  of 
former  days  he  held  out  both  hands  in  token  of  peace,  and 
amid  the  clamors  of  excited  men  and  the  demands  of 
vindictive  passion,  he  remained  unmoved,  and  breathed 
the  very  spirit  of  kindness  and  generosity,  and  exhibited  a 
patriotism  that  put  to  shame  the  partisan  zeal  of  those  who 
constituted  themselves  his  advisers. 


His  tour  around  the  world  exhibited  another  phase  of  his 
character — a  simplicity  and  modesty  as  extraordinary  as  it 
is  unparalleled.     Received  by  kings  and  emperors  with  all 
the  honors  of  a  king,  feted  and  banqueted  by  princes  and 
lords,  and  eulogized  by  the  most  distinguished  men  of  the 
world,  he  exhibited  no  pride,  no  elation,  receiving  ovations 
that  might  well  have  turned  the  head  of  the  strongest  man 
with  manners  and  bearing  as  simple  and  unostentatious  as 
when  a  farmer  in  the  West.     He  refused  to  take  any  of  the 
honors  showered  on  him  as  a  tribute  to  his  personal  merits, 
but  as  designed  for  his  country,  of  which  he  was  only  the 
representative.     His  last  illness  brought  out  traits  of  char- 
acter  which,  though  not  so  striking  as  those  which  his  pub- 
lic career  exhibited,  were,  nevertheless,  of  a  still  higher 
and    nobler   quality.     That   he   who   had   so   often    faced 
death  on   the  battlefield  should  meet  it  at  last  with  calm 
courage  was  to  be  expected  ;  but  to  exhibit  the  meek  and 
quiet  spirit  he  did  under  suffering— a  calm  fortitude  when 
all  his  natural  powers  were  giving  way,  and  a  serene  temper 
and  bearing  when  all  others  were  disturbed  and  overcome, 
was  more  remarkable  and  rare  than  those  dazzling  qualities 
that  arrested  the  public  attention.     Docile  as  a  child  he 
lay  and  suffered— his  strong  will  and  stern  nature  wholly 
surrendered   to    the  will   of    his  Maker.     Impassive     and 
reticent  as  ever,  he  nevertheless  showed  the  feelings  that 
mastered  and  controlled  him  by  having  his  former  pastor 
pray   daily  with    him.     He  believed  in   prayer,  and   said, 
after  his  rally   from  his  first   fierce  struggle  with  death, 
that  he  believed  his  restoration   was  owing  to  the  prayers 
that  Christians  had  put   up  for   him.     As   the   end    drew 
near,  and  his  family  and  friends  gathered  in  distress  about 
him,' he  said  that  he  wished  they  would  look  on  his  death 
with  as  little  concern  as  he  did.     A  brilliant  soldier,  a  calm 
and  just  ruler,  a   true   patriot,   an   humble  Christian,   he 
yielded  up  his  spirit  without  a  sigh  into  the  hands  of  his 
Maker.     That  character  will  shine  brighter  with  time,  and 
his  memory  grow  dearer  with  each  successive  generation. 


38o 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


GRANT'S  BIRTHDAY. 


EULOGY  OF  GENERAL  GRANT. 

REV.   J.    p.   NEWMAN,   D.    D 

Such   is  the   eulogy  that   God    shall   pronounce   upon 
human   goodness  and    fidelity  wherever  found  among  the 
sons  of  men.     The  accidental  distinctions  between  prince 
and  peasant,  millionaire  and  pauper,  commanding  general 
and  private  soldier,  are  but  as  the  dust  in  the  balalice  in  his 
estimation  of  personal  worth  ;  he  regards  not  the  person  of 
any  man  ;  he  looks  upon  the  heart.     If  a  renowned  philos- 
opher  searched  an  ancient  city  for  an  honest  man,  God  is  ever 
in  search  for  a  character,  which  in  his  sight  outweighs  the 
transitory  distinctions  of  earth  and  time,  and  out  of  which 
are  the  issues  of  life.     Tell  me  not  what  a  man  possesses- 
the  beauty  of  Absalom,  the  glory  of  Solomon,  the  wealth 
of  Dives,  the   eloquence  of  Apollos,  the  learning  of  Paul  • 
but  rather  tell  me  what  he  is,  in  his  modes  of  thought  in' 
his  emotional  being,  in  the  trend  of  his  passions,  in   'the 
temper  of  his  mind,  in  the  tenor  of  his  life,  out  of  which 
come  the  totality  of  his  existence  and  the  fidelity  of  his 
destiny.     This  is  the  man  as  he  is,  and   by  it  let  him  be 
judged. 

His  was  the  genius  of  common  sense,  enabling  him  to 
contemplate  all  things  in  their  true  relations  ;  judging  what 
IS  true,   useful,  proper,  expedient,  and  to  adopt  the  best 
means  to  accomplish  the  largest  ends.     From  this  came  his 
seriousness,  thoughtfulness,  penetration,  discernment,  firm' 
ness,  enthusiasm,  triumph.     Wherein  others  dreamed  of 
success,  he  foresaw  defeat ;  when  others  expected  despair 
he  discovered  ground  of  hope;  what   were 'contrasts  to 
others  were  comparisons  to  him.     He  often  stood  alone  in 
his  judgment  and  plans  ;  and  it  is  the  enduring  compli- 
ment  to  his  practical  sense  that  the  blunders  committed  bv 
others  on  military  and   political  questions  were  the  results 
of  plans  which  never  had  his  approval. 


381 


His  soul  was  the  home  of  hope,  sustained  and  cheered 
by  the  certainties  of  his  mind  and  the  power  of  his  faith. 
He  was  the  mathematical  genius  of  a  great  general,  rather 
than  of  a  great  soldier.  By  this  endowment  he  proved  him- 
self equal  to  the  unexpected,  and  that  with  the  precision  of 
a  seer.  "  The  race  is  not  to  the  swift  nor  the  battle  to  the 
strong,"  because  the  unexpected  happens  to  every  man. 
The  grandest  campaigns  are  often  defeats,  the  most  bril- 
liant plans  are  unconsummated,  the  most  wished-for  oppor- 
tunities are  unrealized,  because  baffled  by  the  unexpected 
at  the  very  moment  of  expected  fulfillment.  But  he 
appeared  greatest  in  the  presence  of  the  unforeseen  ;  then 
came  an  inspiration  as  resistless  as  the  march  of  a  whirl- 
wind, as  when,  on  the  second  night  of  the  battle  of  the 
Wilderness,  when  he  changed  the  entire  front  of  the  line 
of  battle,  and  quietly  said,  in  response  to  a  messenger,  "  If 
Lee  is  in  my  rear,  I  am  in  his." 

In  the  history  of  a  great  general  there  come  supreme 
moments,  when  long  maturing  plans  are  to  be  consummated 
and  long  deferred  hopes  are  to  be  realized.  Some  men 
can  work  up  to  that  point,  and  excite  the  admiration  of 
mankind  by  the  care  and  push  wherewith  they  move 
toward  the  objective,  but  fail  in  the  crucial  moment.  The 
preparations  of  this  wonderful  man  rarely  excited  the 
applause  of  the  people,  because  the  workings  of  his 
masterful  mind  were  hidden  beneath  the  silence  of  his 
lips  ;  but  when  the  supreme  moment  came,  there  came  also 
an  intellectual  elevation,  an  uplifting  of  the  whole  being,  a 
transformation  of  the  silent,  thoughtful  general,  which  sur- 
prised his  foes  and  astonished  his  friends.  He  culminated 
at  the  crisis  ;  he  was  at  his  best  when  most  needed  ;  he 
responded  in  an  emergency. 

He  was  one  of  the  few  men  in  history  who  did  more 
than  was  expected.  Some  men  excite  great  expectations 
by  the  brilliancy  of  their  preparations ;  but  this  quiet, 
meditative,  undemonstrative  man  exceeded  all  expec- 
tations by  doing  more  than  he  had  promised,  and  by  doing 


382 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


what  all  others  had  failed  to  do.  Others  had  done  their 
best  with  a  conscientiousness  worthy  of  all  praise  ;  they 
had  worked  up  to  their  maximum  strength,  and  accom- 
plished  much  ;  they  had  contributed  largely  to  the  f^nal 
victory,  and  shall  receive  well  of  their  country.  It  was  no 
fault  of  theirs  if  nature  had  not  endowed  them  for  the  ulti- 
mate  achievement.  But  this  man,  pre-eminent  by  the  happy 
combmation  of  both  nature  and  providence,  rose  superior  in 
the  supreme  moment,  and  forced  all  things  to  do  his  bid- 
ding.    His  latent  resources  seemed  inexhaustible. 

Out  of  his  great  character  came  the  purest  motives,  as 
effect   follows   cause.     He  abandoned  himself   to  his  life 
mission  with  the   hope  of  no  other  reward  than  the  con- 
sciousness   of   duty    done.     Duty   to   his   conscience,    his 
country,  and  his  God  was  his  standard  of  successful  man- 
hood.     With  him,  true  greatness  was  that  in  great  actions 
our  only  care  should  be  to  perform  well  our  part  and  let 
glory  follow  virtue.     He  placed   his  fame  in  the  service  of 
the  state.     He   was   never  tempted   by   false   glory      He 
never  acted  for  effect.     He  acted  because  he  could   not 
help  It.     His  action  was  spontaneous.     Ambition  could  not 
corrupt   his   patriotism  ;   calumnies   could    not   lessen    it  • 
discouragements   could    not   subdue   it.  ' 

When,  in  all  the  annals  of  our  national  life,  shall  we  find 
another,  save  the  Sage  of  Mount  Vernon,  who  was  so  truly 
a  typical  American  .?     Is  it  true  that  his  personal  qualities 
were  not  brilliant  ;  that   his  salient  points  were  not  con- 
spicuous ;  that  in  reading  parallels  between  him  and  other 
men  of  fame,  a  feeling  of  disappointment   is  experienced 
because  there  is  not  on  the  surface  some  prodigious  ele- 
ment of  power  and  greatness  ?     Yet  he  had  this  double 
advantage  over  all  this  world's  heroes-he  possessed  the 
solid  virtues  of  true  greatness  in  a  larger  degree  than  other 
men  of  renown,  and  possessed  them  in  greater  harmony  of 
proportion.     Some  heroes  have  been  men  of  singular  virtue 
m  particular  lines  of  conduct.     But  this  foremost  American 
possessed  all  these,  and   other  virtues  in  happy  combina- 


GRANT*S  BIRTHDAY. 


3«3 


tion ;  not  like  single  gems,  brilliant  by  isolation,  but  like 
jewels  in  a  crown  of  glory,  united  by  the  golden  band  of  a 
completer  character.  What  humility  amid  such  admira- 
tion ;  what  meekness  amid  such  provocation  ;  what  fidelity 
amid  such  temptations ;  what  contentment  amid  such 
adversity ;  what  sincerity  amid  such  deception  ;  what 
"  faith,  hope,  and  charity "  amid  such  suffering.  Tem- 
perance without  austerity  ;  cautious  without  fear ;  brave 
without  rashness ;  serious  without  melancholy  ;  he  was 
cheerful  without  frivolity.  His  constancy  was  not  obsti- 
nacy ;  his  adaptation  was  not  fickleness.  His  hopeful- 
ness was  not  Utopian.  His  love  of  justice  was  equaled 
only  by  his  delight  in  compassion,  and  neither  was  sacri- 
ficed to  the  other.  His  self-advancement  was  subordinated 
to  the  public  good.  His  integrity  was  never  questioned; 
his  honesty  was  above  suspicion  ;  his  private  life  and 
public  career  were  at  once  reputable  to  himself  and  honor- 
able to  his  country. 


GENERAL  GRANT  ON  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.* 

Comrades:  It  always  affords  me  much  gratification  to 
meet  my  old  comrades  in  arms  of  ten  to  fourteen  years  ago, 
and  to  live  over  again  in  memory  the  trials  and  hardships 
of  those  days,  hardships  imposed  for  the  preservation  and 
perpetuation  of  our  free  institutions.  We  believed  then  and 
believe  now  that  we  had  a  government  worth  fighting  for, 
and,  if  need  be,  dying  for.  How  many  of  our  comrades  of 
those  days  paid  the  latter  price  for  our  preserved  Union  ! 
Let  their  heroism  and  sacrifices  be  ever  green  in  our  memory. 
Let  not  the  result  of  their  sacrifices  he  destroyed.  The  Union 
and  the  free  institutions  for  which  they  fell  should  be  held 
more  dear  for  their  sacrifices.  We  will  not  deny  to  any  of 
those  who  fought  against  us  any  privileges  under  the 
government  which  we  claim  for  ourselves.     On  the  con- 

*  His  celebrated  Des  Moines  speech  in  full  as  it  was  so  reported  at 
the  time. 


3^4 


THOUGI/TS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


trary,we  welcome  all  such  who  come  forward  in  good  faith 
to  help  build  up  the  waste  places  and  to  perpetuate  our 
institutions  against  all  enemies,  as  brothers  in  full  interest 
with  us  in  a  common  heritage.     But  we  are  not  prepared  to 
apologize  for  the  part   we  took  in   the  War.     It  is  to  be 
hoped  such  trials  will  never  again  befall  our  country.     In 
this  sentiment  no  class  of  people  can  more  heartily  join  than 
the  soldier  who  submitted  to  the  dangers,  trials,  and  hard- 
ships  of  the  camp  and  battlefield,  on  whichever  side  he  may 
have  fought.     No  class  of  people  are  more  interested   in 
guarding  against  a  recurrence  of  those  days.     Let  us  then 
begin   by  guarding  against   every  enemy  threatening  the 
perpetuity  of  our  free   republican  institutions.     I   do  not 
bring  into  this  assemblage   politics,  certainly  not  partisan 
politics,  but  it  is  a  fair  subject  for  soldiers  in  their  delibera- 
tions to  consider  what  may  be  necessary  to  secure  the  prize 
for  which  they  battled.     In  a  republic  like  ours,  where  the 
citizen  is  the  sovereign  and  the  official  the  servant,  where  no 
power  is  exercised  except  by  the  will  of  the  people,  it  is 
important  that  the  sovereign— the  people— should  po'ssess 
intelligence. 

The   free  school   is   the    promoter  of   that    intelligence 
which  is  to  preserve  us  as  a  free  nation.     If  we  are  to  have 
another  contest  in  the  near  future  of  our  national  existence 
I   predict  that  the  dividing  line  will   not  be   Mason  and 
Dixon's,  but  between  patriotism  and  intelligence  on  one 
side,   and    superstition,   ambition,   and    ignorance   on    the 
other.     Now,   in  this  centennial  year  of  our  existence,  I 
believe  it  a  good  time  to  begin  the  work  of  strengthening 
the  foundation  of  the  house  commenced  by  our  patriotic 
fathers  one  hundred  years  ago  at  Concord  and  Lexington. 
Let  us  all  labor  and  add  all  needful  guarantees  for  the  more 
perfect  security  of  free  thought,  free  speech,  and  free  press, 
pure  morals,  unfettered  religious  sentiments,  and  of  equal 
rights  and  privileges  to  all  men,  irrespective  of  nationality, 
color,  or  religion.     Encourage  free   schools   and  resolve 
that  not  one  dollar  of  money  appropriated  to  their  support, 


GRANT'S  BIRTHDAY. 


385 


no  matter  how  raised,  shall  be  appropriated  to  the  support 
of  any  sectarian  school.  Resolve  that  neither  the  State 
nor  nation,  nor  both  combined,  shall  support  institutes  of 
learning  other  than  those  sufficient  to  afford  every  child 
growing  up  in  the  land  the  opportunity  of  a  good,  common 
school  education  unmixed  with  sectarian,  pagan,  or  atheis- 
tical tenets.  Leave  the  matter  of  religion  to  the  family 
altar,  the  church,  and  the  private  school  supported  entirely 
by  private  contribution.  Keep  the  Church  and  State  for- 
ever separate.  With  these  safeguards  I  believe  the  battle 
which  created  **  The  Army  of  the  Tennes.see"  will  not  have 
been  fought  in  vain. 


GRANT'S   MAGNANIMITY.* 

HON.  H.  A.  HERBERT,  SECRETARY  OF  THE  NAVY. 

Everywhere  throughout  our  country  the  Union  is 
regarded  now  as  indissoluble,  and  everywhere  the  people 
rejoice  that  it  is  so.  We  are  not  to  be  two  nations  of 
Anglo-Saxon  people  lying  side  by  side,  each,  like  the 
unhappy  nations  of  the  Old  World,  armed  to  the  teeth  on 
land  and  sea  against  its  neighbor.  We  are  to  live  under 
one  flag,  and  this  to  be  the  guaranty  to  us  of  peace  and 
prosperity  ;  we  are  to  constitute  all  together.  North,  South, 
East,  and  West,  one  government.  That  Government  is 
already  known  at  all  the  courts  of  Europe. 

General  Grant,  who  was  so  prominent  a  factor  in  all  this, 
was  a  great  soldier.  Looking  back  at  the  victories  he  won, 
while  others  were  being  defeated,  it  might  almost  be  said 
that  victory  was  trembling  in  the  balance  till  he  threw  in 
his  sword  and  turned  the  scales.  Yet  it  is  not  of  General 
Grant  as  a  commander  of  armies  in  the  field  that  I  pro- 
pose to  speak  this  evening,  but  rather  of  his  patriotic  love 
for  his  whole  country,  of  his  innate  nobility,  and  especially 
of  his  magnanimity  as  a  victor  and  the  magical  effects  it 
wrought. 

*  Extract  from  Anniversary  Address,  New  York,  April  27,  1894. 


3^6 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


The  happiest  result  that  has  followed  the  Civil  War  is 
that    wonderful    revolution   of    sentiment   in    the    South 
which  has    resulted  in  the  complete  and  absolute  loyalty 
now  of  the  ex-Confederate  to  the  Union.     I  do  not  deny 
that   the  causes   which   contributed   mostly  to  this  result 
were,  first,  a  deep  and  abiding  conviction,  growing  up  from 
experience,    that  our  country  is  geographically  one,  that 
the  highways  and  rivers  which  unite  it  were  made  for  com- 
merce and  not  for  hostile  armies  ;   and    secondly  this  that 
the  conquered  States  of  the  South  soon  ceased  to  be  held 
as  military    provinces,    and    were   readmitted    with    their 
citizens  to    take    part   in    the   Government.     There  were 
other  contributing  causes,  but  among  them  all  it  is  difficult 
to  overvalue  the  immediate  and  tranquilizing  effect.  North 
and  South,  of  Grant's  generosity  at  the  surrender. 

When  the  President  had  become  the  private  citizen   and 
especially  when  the  hand  of  death  was  seen  to  be  upon  him 
the  virtues  of  the  great  soldier  became  lustrous  again  in 
the  memory  of  all  men,  and  there  is,  perhaps,  no  one  around 
this  table  who  does  not  recall  the  many  manifestations  of 
affectionate  solicitude  for  his  welfare  that  took  place  all 
over  the  country  during  his  last  sickness.     There  was  no 
mistaking  then  the  real  feeling  towarn  him   in  the  South 
He  himself  was  deeply  touched,  and   on  July  2,   1885,  he 
said,  **It  has  been  an  inestimable  blessing  to  me  to  hear 
the  kind  expressions  toward  me  in  person  from  all  parts  of 
our  country,  from  people  of  all  nationalities,  of  all  religions 
and   of  no  religions,  of  Confederates  and  National  troops 
alike."  ^ 

Among  the  last  words  that  General  Grant  traced  with 
his  feeble  hand  were  :  -  I  have  witnessed  since  my  sickness 
just  what  I  have  wished  to  see  ever  since  the  war— har- 
mony and  good  feeling  between  the  sections."  This  was 
his  dying  message  to  his  countrymen.  It  is  the  duty  of  us 
all  to  promote  harmony  and  good  feeling  between  the  sec- 
tions. I  know  of  no  better  way  than  by  calling  to  mind 
the  virtues  of  Ulysses  S.  Grant. 


GRANTS  BIRTHDA  Y. 


387 


WORDS  THAT  LIVE. 

GENERAL  U.  S.  GRANT. 

The  Government  has  educated  me  for  the  army.  What 
I  am,  I  owe  to  my  country.  I  have  served  her  through  one 
war,  and,  live  or  die,  will  serve  her  through  this.— ^/  the 
outbreak  of  the  Civil  War,  1861. 

No  terms  except  unconditional  and  immediate  surrender 
can  be  accepted.  I  propose  to  move  immediately  on  your 
works. —  To  Confederate  General  Buckner,  commanding  Fort 
Donelson,  February  16,  1862. 

The  effusion  of  blood  you  propose  stopping  by  this 
course  can  be  ended  at  any  time  you  may  choose  by  an 
unconditional  surrender  of  the  city  and  garrison.  Men 
who  have  shown  so  much  endurance  and  courage  as  those 
now  in  Vicksburg  will  also  challenge  the  respect  of  an 
adversary,  and,  I  can  assure  you,  will  be  treated  with  all  the 
respect  due  to  them  as  prisoners  of  war. —  To  General 
Pemberton,  commanding  at  Vicksburg,  1863. 

No  theory  of  my  own  will  ever  stand  in  the  way  of  my 
executing,  in  good  faith,  any  order  I  may  receive  from  those 
in  authority  over  me. —  To  Secretary  Chase,  1863. 

I  FEEL  no  inclination  to  retaliate  for  the  offenses  of  irre- 
sponsible persons  ;  but  if  it  is  the  policy  of  any  general 
entrusted  with  the  command  of  troops  to  show  no  quarter 
or  to  punish  with  death  prisoners  taken  in  battle,  I  will 
accept  the  issue. —  To  General  Buckner,  1863. 

The  stability  of  this  government  and  the  unity  of  this 
nation  depend  solely  on  the  cordial  support  and  the 
earnest  loyalty  of  the  people.— T".:?  citizens  of  Memphis, 
1S63. 


>riiSiWaiftidiir-^-^*---^''''S»**-^-^*-^-'- -^^-J"--  •■'-"ft f^at&hi ja«*^-"^'«^^^'»^'*i^^-'-^»^'--^"-'^  ■^■>.J<te.«sA.T5»<.g».ife-a«v£:aa.:7Efe'ijj^ 


3^^ 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


I  PROPOSE  to  fight  it  out  on  this  line  of  it  takes  all  sum- 
mer.— /;/  the  Wilderness^  May  ii,  1864. 

Victory  has  crowned  your  valor  and  secured  the  purpose 
of  your  patriotic  hearts,  and,  with  the  gratitude  of  your 
countrymen,  and  the  highest  honors  a  great  and  free  nation 
can  accord,  you  will  soon  be  permitted  to  return  to  your 
homes  and  families  conscious  of  having  discharged  the 
highest  duty  of  American  citizens.  To  achieve  these 
glorious  triumphs  and  secure  to  yourselves,  your  fellow- 
countrymen,  and  posterity  the  blessings  of  free  institutions, 
tens  of  thousands  of  your  gallant  comrades  have  fallen  and 
sealed  the  priceless  legacy  with  their  lives.  The  graves 
of  these  a  grateful  nation  bedews  with  tears,  honors  their 
memories,  and  will  ever  cherish  and  support  their  stricken 
families. — Address  to  the  Armies^  June  2,  1865. 

This  is  a  republic  where  the  will  of  the  people  is  the 
law  of  the  land.  1  beg  that  their  voice  may  be  heard. — 
Letter  to  President  Johnson^  1865. 

Peace,  and  universal  prosperity,  its  sequence,  with  econ- 
omy of  administration,  will  lighten  the  burden  of  taxation, 
while  it  certainly  reduces  the  national  debt.  Let  us  have 
peace. — Letter  accepting  Nomination^  1868. 

I  SHALL  on  all  subjects  have  a  policy  to  recommend,  none 
to  enforce  against  the  will  of  the  people.  Laws  are  to 
govern  all  alike — those  opposed  to  as  well  as  those  in  favor 
of  them.  I  know  no  method  to  secure  the  repeal  of  bad  or 
obnoxious  laws  so  effectually  as  their  strict  execution. — 
Lnaugural  Address^  1869. 

We  are  a  republic  whereof  one  man  is  as  good  as  another 
before  the  law.  Under  such  a  form  of  government  it  is  of 
the  greatest  importance  that  all  should  be  possessed  of 
education  and  intelligence — enough  to  cast  a  vote  with  a 
right  understanding  of  its  meaning. — Annual  Message^  1871. 


GRANT'S  BIRTHDAY, 


389 


I  AM  not  a  believer  in  any  artificial  method  of  making 
paper  money  equal  to  coin  when  the  coin  is  not  owned  or 
held  ready  to  redeem  the  promise  to  ^^diy.— Veto  Message  of 
Currency  Bill, 

Let  no  guilty  man  escape. — Instructiofis  concerning 
whiskey  frauds  upon  the  Revenue, 

Too  long  denial  of  guaranteed  right  is  sure  to  lead  to 
revolution,  bloody  revolution,  where  suffering  must  fall 
upon  the  innocent  as  well  as  the  guilty.— Z^//<?r/^  Governor 
Chamberlain^  1876. 

Nothing  would  afford  me  greater  happiness  than  to 
know,  as  I  believe  will  be  the  case,  that  at  some  future  day 
the  nations  of  the  earth  will  agree  upon  some  sort  of  con- 
gress which  shall  take  cognizance  of  international  questions 
of  difficulty,  and  whose  decisions  will  be  as  binding  as  the 
decision  of  our  Supreme  Court  is  binding  on  us.— T.^ ///^ 
Lnter national  Arbitration  Union,  Birmingham. 

I  recognize  the  fact  that  whatever  there  is  of  greatness 
in  the  United  States,  or  indeed  in  any  other  country,  is  due 
to  the  labor  performed.  The  labor  is  the  author  of  all 
greatness  and  wealth.  Without  labor  there  would  be  no 
government,  or  no  leading  class,  or  nothing  to  preserve. 
With  us  labor  is  regarded  as  highly  respectable.— T^  the 
Iron  Founders'  Society,  Birmingham,  1877. 

Although  a  soldier  by  education  and  profession,  I  have 
never  felt  any  fondness  for  war,  and  I  have  never  advocated 
it  except  as  a  means  of  peace. — Speech  in  London,  1887. 

If  our  country  could  be  saved  or  ruined  by  the  efforts  of 
any  one  man,  we  should  not  have  a  country,  and  we  should 
not  now  be  celebrating  our  Fourth  of  ]\x\y.— Speech  at 
Hamburg,  1878. 


^ 


iv;.at..L^,.1niw>»i. 


..j^A.^.-j:..'.gliUa»..iJKj.aikitSjiiaM(;'i|fSla't;;iail>r 


Ajgimtat 


39° 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


The  humblest  soldier  who  carried  a  musket  is  entitled 
to  as  much  credit  for  the  results  of  the  war  as  those  who 
were  iii  command. — Speech  at  Hamburgh  1878. 

There  had  to  be  an  end  of  slavery.  Then,  we  were 
fighting  an  enemy  with  whom  we  could  not  make  a  peace. 
We  had  to  destroy  him.  No  convention,  no  treaty  was 
possible,  only  destruction. —  To  Bismarck^  1878. 

With  a  people  as  honest  and  proud  as  the  Americans, 
and  with  so  much  common  sense,  it  is  always  a  mistake  to 
do  a  thing  not  entirely  right  for  the  siike  of  expediency. 

The  only  eyes  a  general  can  trust  are  his  own. 

A  GENERAL  who  will  never  take  a  chance  in  a  battle  will 
never  fight  one. 

I  DESIRE  the  good-will  of  all,  whether  hitherto  my  friends 
or  not. — Easter  Message^  during  his  sickness ^  1885. 


LABOR   DAY. 

Historical.— Labor  day  as  a  holiday  owes  its  origin  to  several 
causes.  In  some  of  the  States  there  seems  to  have  been  a  desire 
by  the  legislators  to  show  their  sympathy  with  the  toiling  masses 
who  could  not  lose  even  one  day's  wages  by  taking  a  vacation  at 
any  season  of  the  year,  and  therefore  a  day  was  set  apart  whereon 
they  could  legally  lay  aside  the  implements  of  toil  and  not  lose  their 
wage  for  the  day.  In  other  States,  the  motive  for  appointing  a 
legal  labor  holiday  was  more  political  than  sympathetic  the 
leaders  in  the  movements  having  for  their  object  the  securing  of  the 
favor  of  the  horny-handed  sons  of  toil  in  order  that  their  votes 
miffht  be  obtained  when  the  day  of  election  arrived.  But  whatever 
may  have  been  the  motive  in  which  it  originated,  the  day  has  been 
steadily  growing  in  favor  since  the  first  Labor  Day  was  legislated 
into  existence,  as  the  following  facts  will  show  : 

In  1888  Labor  Day  was  observed  as  a  legal  holiday  in  Colorado. 
Massachusetts,  New  Jersey,  and  New  York ;  Oregon  was  added 
in  1889-  Nebraska  and  Pennsylvania  in  1890;  Connecticut,  Iowa, 
and  Ohio  in  1891  ;  Californici.  Delaware,  Florida.  Georgia,  Illinois. 
Indiana.  Kansas,  Maine,  Michigan,  Montana,  New  Hampshire, 
South  Carolina,  South  Dakota,  Tennessee,  Texas,  Utah,  Virginia. 
Washington,  and  Louisiana  in  1893. 

In  1894  Congress  passed  an  Act  making  the  first  Monday  in 
September  "Labor's  Holiday"  in  the  District  of  Columbia  and  all 
the  federal  offices  throughout  the  Union.  Congress  having  no 
power  to  create  a  holiday  in  the  States,  29  have  already  legalized  it. 


LABOR   STRIKES. 

Strikes  in  the  labor  departments  of  the  world  are  no 
novelty  in  industrial  history.  Shipbuilding  was  an  impor- 
tant industry  in  the  early  colonial  times  of  this  country, 
and  necessitated  the  introduction  of  skilled  craftsmen  from 
England.  These  came  principally  from  Kent,  in  England, 
where  labor  organizations  existed,  and  these  newcomers 
naturally  maintained  the  rules  here  which  governed  their 
craft  in  England.  Shortly  after  the  close  of  the  first  cen- 
tury and  a  half  of  colonial  history  the  wage  question  began 
to  be  discussed,  but  in  a  purely  social  and  benevolent 
aspect. 

393 


394 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


The  first  recorded  strike  is  that  of  journeymen  bakers  in 
the  city  of  New  York  in  1741.  These  refused  to  bake 
bread  until  their  wages  were  raised.  The  charge  of  con- 
spiracy was  preferred  against  them,  for  which  they  were 
tried  and  convicted,  but  no  sentence  appears  to  have  been 
passed,  although  another  authority  states  that  they  were 
punished  with  fines. 

In  1792  the  journeymen  shoemakers  of  Philadelphia 
organized,  and  in  1796  ordered  a  *' turn  out"  for  higher 
wages.  The  **  turn  out"  was  successful;  also  in  1798 
when  another  strike  was  ordered  ;  also  partially  successful 
in  1799  to  prevent  a  reduction  of  wages. 

In  1803  the  sailors  in  New  York  demanded  an  increase 
in  wages  ;  marched  in  a  body  round  the  city  ;  compelled 
the  sailors  at  work  to  cease  and  join  the  strikers.  The 
leader  was  arrested,  the  strikers  dispersed,  and  the  strike 
collapsed. 

In  1805  another  strike  occurred  in  Philadelphia.  The 
journeymen  shoemakers  ordered  a  strike  for  higher  wages. 
Eight  men  were  arrested  and  tried  on  an  indictment  of 
conspiracy.  The  jury  found  the  defendants  guilty  of  a 
combination  to  raise  their  wages,  and  they  were  each  fined 
eight  dollars  with  costs. 

In  1809  the  journeymen  cordwainers  in  New  York 
ordered  a  strike.  A  conspiracy  trial  followed,  a  verdict  of 
guilty  secured,  and  the  defendants  were  each  fined  one 
dollar  with  costs. 

In  1815  the  journeymen  cordwainers  of  Pittsburg  struck, 
were  indicted,  convicted  for  employing  unlawful  means  to 
obtain  higher  wages,  and  were  each  fined  eight  dollars. 

In  1 82 1  the  printers  struck  in  Albany  because  **arat" 
had  been  employed  in  one  of  the  printing  offices.  The 
union  men  were  successful. 

In  1822  the  journeymen  hatters  of  New  York  struck  ; 
were  tried  and  convicted  of  conspiracy. 

In  1827  some  Philadelphia  tailors  struck  to  secure  the 
reinstatement  of  five   dismissed  journeymen.     They  were 


LABOR  DAY. 


395 


tried  and  convicted  of  conspiracy  to  compel  masters  to 
employ  discharged  workmen. 

From  1825  to  1830  several  strikes  were  ordered  by  the 
ship  carpenters  and  caulkers  in  New  York  city  for  a  reduc- 
tion in  the  hours  of  a  day's  labor.  Some  of  the  strikes  were 
successful  and  others  not. 

In  1830  the  carpenters  and  masons  of  Boston  struck  for 
shorter  hours,  but  were  not  successful. 

In  1833  the  carpet  factory  employees  at  Thompsonville, 
Conn.,  struck  for  an  increase  of  wages,  which  resulted  in  a 
suit  for  conspiracy  in  which  the  defendants  succeeded, 
because  in  seeking  to  prevent  men  from  working  they  had 
only  peaceably  reasoned  with  them. 

In  1833  the  journeymen  shoemakers  of  Geneva,  N.  Y., 
struck  because  their  employers  would  not  dismiss  a  man 
who  failed  to  live  up  to  the  rules  of  the  union.  The 
strikers  were  indicted,  charged  with  conspiracy.  The  court 
gave  judgment  in  their  favor,  but  the  higher  court  reversed 
the  judgment  of  the  lower  court,  holding  that  the  conspiracy 
was  indictable,  because  it  was  an  act  injurious  to  trade. 

In  1834  the  female  shoebinders  of  Lynn,  Mass.,  struck 
for  an  increase  of  wages  and  failed.  In  Lowell,  the  female 
factory  operatives  struck  in  the  same  year  and  failed  in 
preventing  a  reduction  of  wages.  The  same  year  the 
laborers  on  the  Providence  Railroad  at  Mansfield  struck  ;  a 
riot  occurred,  the  militia  was  called  out  ;  no  shots  were 
fired,  but  several  of  the  rioters  were  sent  to  prison. 

In  1835  fifteen  strikes  occurred  in  different  parts  of  the 
country,  principally  for  the  reduction  of  the  hours  of  labor. 
The  stonecutters  in  New  York  and  other  cities  succeeded 
in  securing  a  ten-hour  work  day.  Coal  yard  workmen  and 
others  in  Philadelphia  succeeded  in  establishing  a  ten- 
hour  system.  The  wages  of  these  employees,  and  also 
of  the  female  workers  in  the  same  city,  because  of  this 
strike  were  raised,  thereby  giving  to  them  all  a  more 
equable  compensation  for  their  labor.  In  Paterson,  N.  J., 
twenty    mills    in    the    same    year   were  closed  by  labor 


d«?«.^  J«^.:-^^«^te."^a^,^•a>sifJ^r^..  ^f.tt.:v^-ii>^^  .■^■^■■ML^u»&feaats!;a**i».aaa<f.  ■^•A\j&riaAriit:-:.Kiaife?.5 


39^ 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASIOAT. 


troubles,   the   operatives   demanding  shorter  hours  ;  they 
were  not  successful. 

In  1836  seven  strikes  occurred.  The  'longshoremen, 
riggers,  and  others  connected  with  the  shipping  in  New 
York  and  Philadelphia  struck  for  a  reduction  of  hours  and 
for  an  increase  of  wages.  The  affair  was  settled  by  the 
military.  In  the  same  year  the  tailors  of  New  York  struck 
for  an  increase  of  wages.  Twenty-one  of  them  were  tried 
for  conspiracy,  convicted,  and  sentenced  to  pay  fines  rang, 
ing  from  $100  to  $150. 

The  year  1837  had  two  strikes;  one  by  the  employees 
of  a  contractor  in  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  for  an  increase  of 
wages,  and  one  in  Boston  by  the  sailors  for  an  increase  of 
wages  also.     Both  strikes  failed. 

In  1838  the  factory  girls  at  Dover,  N.  H.,  struck  to  pre- 
vent a  reduction  of  wages.  There  is  no  record  of  the 
result. 

In  1839  the  laborers  on  the  railroad  near  Salem,  Mass., 
struck  for  shorter  hours,  and  the  laborers  on  the  Reading 
and  Hamburg  Railroad,  Pennsylvania,  for  an  increase  of 
wages  and  a  larger  daily  allowance  of  whisky  ;  the  wages 
were  increased  but  not  the  whisky. 

In  1840  railroad  laborers  in  Rawley,  Mass.,  struck  because 
of  a  deduction  of  pay  of  a  laborer  who  failed  to  appear  at 
work  at  the  appointed  hour.  A  riot  occurred  ;  the  ring- 
leaders were  arrested  and  the  work  resumed. 

In  1842  boilermakers  in  the  iron  mills  at  Pittsburg 
struck  against  a  reduction  of  wages,  but  at  a  reduced  rate 
resumed  work  in  a  few  months.  In  the  same  year,  weavers 
in  Philadelphia  struck  against  a  reduction  of  wages  ;  much 
rioting  and  destruction  of  property  followed.  The  difficul- 
ties were  amicably  adjusted  in  favor  of  the  weavers. 

In  1843  the  bricklayers  of  West  Philadelphia  struck  for 
higher  wages  ;  an  enormous  brickyard  was  wrecked.  The 
mayor  and  sheriff  refused  to  interfere.  In  the  same  year 
there  were  strikes  of  female  operatives  in  Philadelphia  and 
Chicopee,  Mass. 


LABOR  DAY. 


397 


In  1844  Philadelphia  had  three  strikes  for  higher  wages. 
In    1845    the  boilermakers   in    Pittsburg   struck   for   an 
increase  of  wages  and  received  an  advance  of  one  dollar  per 
ton.     There  were  four  other  strikes,  and  three  of  them  suc- 
cessful. 

In  1846  only  one  strikes  occurred  and  it  failed. 
In  1847  many  strikes  prevailed,  some  for  shorter  hours 
and  some  for  higher  wages  ;  some  were  successful. 

In  1848  the  Fall  River  weavers  struck  against  a  reduction 
of  wages  ;  some  of  the  strikers  were  sent  to  prison  for  dis- 
turbing the  peace.     The  strike  failed. 

The  coal  miners  in  the  Monongahela  Valley  struck  against 
a  reduction  of  wages.  Seven  cotton  factories  of  Alleghany 
City  shut  down  because  of  a  dispute  with  operators.  A 
number  of  rioters  were  arrested,  tried,  and  found  guilty. 
Factories  resumed  with  a  reduction  of  sixteen  per  cent,  in 


wages 


In  1849  there  was  only  one  strike,  at  a  cotton  mill,  and 

it  failed. 

In  1850  business  was  dull  everywhere.  The  Fall  River 
mills  gave  notice  of  a  reduction  of  wages,  and  a  strike  of 
great  magnitude  occurred  ;  the  reduced  rates  were  finally 
accepted.  The  Pittsburg  ironworkers  also  struck  against 
a  proposed  reduction  of  wages  ;  an  attack  was  made  on  the 
mills,  arrests  were  made,  many  imprisoned,  but  afterward 
were'  pardoned  by  the  Governor  on  being  petitioned  by  a 
large  number  of  citizens. 

In  185 1  many  strikes  occurred  in  many  industries  for  the 
ten-hour  system,  but  the  majority  of  them  failed  owing  to 
the  increasing  immigrations  of  foreign  workmen. 

In  1852  the  employees  at  Salisbury  Mills,  Massachusetts, 
struck  because  their  luncheon  time  was  abolished  on  account 
of  its  abuse  ;  the  employees  at  the  Amesbury  Mills  also 
struck  for  a  similar  reason.  These  strikes  were  not  suc- 
cessful. 

In    1853  twelve  strikes  occurred  ;   many  failed,  but   m 

some  cases  shorter  hours  were  granted. 


39^ 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASIOJ^. 


In  1854  ten  strikes  took  place,  the  most  notable  of  which 
was  that  of  the  employees  on  the  Philadelphia  Repster, 
because  of  the  employment  of  females. 

In  1855  there  were  three  strikes  ;  the  most  important  was 
that  of  the  cigarmakers  at  Siiffield,  Conn. 

In  1856  the  Irish  laborers  upon  the  wharves  of  Boston 
struck  because  steam  hoisting  machines  were  introduced. 
The  strikers  were  defeated. 

In  1859  nine  strikes  occurred,  the  principal  ones  of  which 
were  the  hatter's  strike  against  a  dealer  in  Boston  for  refus- 
ing to  observe  the  regulations  of  the  Hatter's  Union  and  the 
coal-miners'  strike  in  the  Monongahela  Valley,  because  of 
the  irregular  sizes  of  the  cars.    There  was  much  rioting,  and 
twenty-seven  were  arrested,  tried,  convicted,  and  fined  from 
five  to  ten  dollars  each  and  costs.     Also  the  glassblowers' 
strike    against    the  employment  of   apprentices  ;    fourteen 
strikers  were  arrested  for  conspiracy  and  the  strike  failed. 
Until    this   period  there    were   comparatively  few   strikes 
against  reduction  of  wages  ;    they  were  for  shorter  hours 
and  increased  pay.     They  were  for  better  terms  and  not 
for  encroachments  on  the  part  of  employers. 

In  i860  a  great  shoemakers'  strike  took  place  in  Massa- 
chusetts, the  militia  was  called  out,  and  the  men  were  forced 
to  return  to  their  work  at  lower  wages  than  before. 

In  1865  the  United  Sons  of  Vulcan  was  formed,  which 
inaugurated  the  sliding  scale  plan  which  prevented  a  strike 
in  the  iron  trade  for  nine  years. 

In  1868  the  spinners  and  weavers  of  Fall  River,  Mass., 
inaugurated  a  strike  which  continued  two  weeks  and 
attracted  much  notice  ;  great  strikes  took  place  in  Pennsyl- 
vania because  the  operators  refused  to  obey  the  eight- 
hour  law  which  had  been  passed  by  the  legislature. 

In  187 1  the  Schuylkill  miners  struck  against  a  reduction 
of  wages— a  strike  which  spread  through  the  anthracite 
region  and  brought  out  Molly  Maguireism  in  its  worse 
form. 

From  1871-1875  cigarmakers  struck  nearly  eighty  times  ; 


LABOR  DAY. 


399 


also  the  cotton,  woolen,  printing,  mining,  and  shoe  opera- 
tives many  times  during  these  years. 

In  1877  terrible  strikes  on  railroads  occurred.  These 
were  brought  about  by  a  proposed  reduction  of  ten  per  cent, 
in  the  wages  of  employees  on  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
Railroad.  They  spread  to  many  western  cities,  causing 
much  loss  of  life  and  the  destruction  of  five  million  dollars 
worth  of  property. 

In  1886  the  Philadelphia  and  Reading  Railroad  would 
not  recognize  the  Knights  of  Labor,  and  the  employees 
struck  and  were  defeated  ;  other  strikes  followed  on  the 
Missouri  Pacific  Road  and  on  other  roads  through  the 
South  and  West.  The  workmen  demanded  an  eight- hour 
day  and  caused  much  trouble  in  Chicago,  which  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  outbreak  of  the  Anarchists. 

In  1887  the  glassworkers  commenced  a  strike  which 
lasted  five  months,  and  cost  the  men  nearly  half  a  million 
of  dollars. 

In  1888  a  strike  occurred  at  the  Edgar  Thompson  Steel 
Works  at  Bradford,  Pa.,  because  Mr.  Carnegie  refused  to 
sign  the  sliding  scale  ;  after  four  months  it  was  com- 
promised ;  the  men  having  lost  five  hundred  thousand 
dollars  in  wages. 

In  1889  a  strike  occurred  among  the  miners  in  Spring 
Valley,  III.,  which  resulted  in  great  loss  to  the  men. 

In  1890  many  strikes  took  place,  caused  by  the  eight- 
hour  movement. 

In  1892  was  the  great  strike  at  the  Carnegie  Mills,  Home- 
stead, near  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  lasting  five  months,  in  which 
twelve  lives  were  lost.  The  militia  were  called  out.  The 
loss  to  the  State  and  county  was  estimated  at  $500,000,  and 
loss  in  wages  and  failure  to  complete  contract  over 
2,000,000. 

In  1894  notable  strikes  occurred  in  the  coke  and  coal 
regions  of  Pennsylvania. 

Since  1880  the  Government  has  issued  an  annual  report 
of  strikes.     From  this  report  it  appears  that  between  1776 


400 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION. 


and  1880,  1491  important  strikes  occurred,  besides  many 
times  that  number  of  smaller  ones.  From  January,  1881, 
till  December  25,  1886,  there  were  3902  strikes,  involving 
i»323,203  men  and  22,304  business  firms. 

In  1886  there  were  1900  strikes  causing  a  wage  loss 
of  $2,858,191  to  the  men,  and  $3,000,000  to  the  em- 
ployers. 


LABOR  DAY. 

There  is  not  much  of  a  pretext  needed  for  a  public 
holiday  on  the  first  Monday  in  September.  But  no  holiday 
maker  is  at  all  particular  about  the  avowed  ground  upon 
which  he  gets  or  gives  himself  a  "  day  off."  It  is  the  time 
when  men  who  are  able  to  take  longer  vacations  are  think- 
ing of  returning  to  town,  and  when  the  railroads  find  it 
profitable  to  reduce  the  special  facilities  they  have  been 
extending  to  Summer  travelers.  But  it  is  also  the  time 
when  men  who  have  borne  the  burden  and  heat  of  the 
summer  in  town  and  at  work,  with  no  respite  except  on 
Sunday,  even  with  half  of  Saturday  added,  feel  the  need  of 
a  longer  rest,  and  find  it  in  a  two  days'  vacation  that  enables 
them  to  make  longer  and  pleasanter  excursions  than  they 
have  been  able  to  make  before  during  the  summer,  except 
when  the  Fourth  of  July  happens  to  fall  on  a  Monday. 

While  it  were  a  ''  very  cynical  asperity  "  to  object  to  the 
making  a  holiday  of  the  first  Monday  of  September,  there 
does  not  seem  to  be  any  special  sense  or  virtue  in  calling 
it  Labor  Day.  It  was  recommended,  we  believe,  under 
this  name,  for  adoption  in  this  State  by  that  horny-handed 
son  of  toil  and  friend  of  toilers,  as  of  all  other  numerous 
classes  of  persons  who  have  votes,  Mr.  David  B.  Hill,  then 
Governor  of  New  York.  It  was  a  day  set  apart  for  Labor 
to  '*  show  its  power  "  and  to  turn  out  in  processions  of  such 
vast  size  as  should  convince  politicians,  if  not  other  per- 
sons, of  the  justice  of  its  claims.  But  Labor,  in  place  of 
showing   its  power,  has  preferred  to  show  its  sense.     It 


LABOR  DAY. 


401 


flees  from  the  crowded  city  early  in  the  morning,  if  it  have 
not  found  it  practicable  to  flee  on  Sunday  or  on  Saturday, 
to  return  late  at  night.  To  tramp  around  the  streets 
behind  brass  bands  and  to  listen  to  harangues  from  agita- 
tors is  not  Labor's  notion  of  a  rational  way  of  spending  a 
holiday.  It  goes  to  the  races  and  to  the  rural  and  suburban 
resorts  in  vast  numbers.  The  woods  are  full  of  it,  but  the 
streets  are  very  empty  of  it.  In  the  minds  of  the  projectors 
of  the  holiday  the  procession  was  to  be  the  chief  event  of 
the  day.  But  Labor  Day  had  no  more  political  or  class 
significance  to  a  New  York  workingman  than  Whitmonday 
has  an  ecclesiastical  significance  to  a  London  workingman. 

New  York  Times. 


WORKINGMEN'S  DAY. 

A  LABOR  demonstration  in  a  European  capital  is  apt  to 
be  an  occasion  for  governmental  and  popular  anxiety.  A 
great  parade  of  workingmen  in  New  York  and  Brooklyn 
gives  the  public  authorities  and  the  people  no  more  concern 
than  would  a  Sunday  school  procession. 

It  is  not  a  demonstration  of  the  unemployed  or  the 
aggrieved,  but  an  outpouring  of  wage  earners  celebrating 
the  day  set  apart  by  the  State  in  recognition  of  the  dignity 
of  labor  and  the  standing  of  the  laborer.  It  is  a  character- 
istic parade  of  American  workingmen,  creditable  alike  to 
themselves  and  to  the  country. 

While  the  State  and  the  nation  have  done  much  to  pro- 
tect the  interests,  enlarge  the  rights,  and  better  the  condi- 
tion of  the  toiling  masses,  much  yet  remains  to  be  done. 

The  recent  statistics  of  immigration  present  some  strik- 
ing facts  which  cannot  go  unnoticed  or  unheeded  with 
safety.  The  public  will  be  amazed  at  the  rapid  rise  in  the 
tide  from  Italy,  Russia,  Poland,  Hungary,  and  Bohemia. 

In  1881  only  fifteen  thousand  Italians  emigrated  to  this 
country.  In  1890  the  number  was  fifty-two  thousand,  and 
in  1 89 1  it  was  seventy-six  thousand. 


|^^wggy^^^£Uii^iiiiu^M^^i» ; 


^^^Wg£A^i^^^^^^^£^)Mih£g^g£ii^ 


402 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


From   Russia  and  Poland  ten  thousand  came  in  1881 
The  number  in   1890  was  forty-six  thousand  ;  in  1891  it 
was  seventy-five  thousand. 

In  1881  fewer  than  seven  thousand  Hungarian  immi- 
grants arrived  here.  More  than  twenty-eight  thousand 
landed  in  1891,  and  more  than  thirty-seven  thousand  in 
1892.  Nearly  twice  as  many  Bohemians  came  in  1802  as 
in  1890. 

Another  significant  fact  is  that  the  percentage  of  males 
m  these  nationalities  is  much  higher  than  in  the  immigrants 
from  Germany,  Ireland,  Sweden,  or  Norway,  showing  that 
the  first  named  come  more  nearly  to  the  Chinese  in  this 
respect.  Thus  more  than  seventy-six  per  cent,  of  the 
Italian  immigrants  in  1892  were  males.  The  percentage 
of  males  from  Hungary  was  nearly  seventy-four  and  from 
Poland  more  than  sixty-six. 

It  also  appears  that  these  nationalities  brought  the 
lowest  average  of  money  with  them— that  is  to  say, 
they  were  the  poorest ;  furthermore,  that  the  great  mass 
of  them  were  without  occupation— that  is,  were  cheap 
laborers. 

These  figures  make  it  clear  that  there  has  been  a  rising 
tide  of  undesirable  immigration  to  this  country  and  an 
influx  of  European  cheap  labor  which  cannot  go  on  with- 
out the  most  injurious  consequences  to  American  labor. 
Simple  justice  to  our  own  wage  earners  demands  that  they 
be  protected  against  this  menace. 


THE  LABOR  DAY  AND  HOLIDAYS. 

Legislatures  are  besieged  just  now  for  the  shortening 
of  the  labor  day  and  for  the  granting  of  holidays  to  laborers 
for  the  city  and  the  State.  The  most  common  labor  day  is 
a  ten-hour  day.  Street-car  men  are  seeking  fora  reduction 
from  longer  hours.     Firemen  are  asking  for  a  holiday  once 


LABOR  DAY. 


403 


in  seven  days  rather  than  once  in  twelve  as  in  Boston,  or 
once  in  ten  as  in  New  York.  That  the  shortening  process 
has  not  yet  reached  its  limit  is  evident.  What  the  ultimate 
labor  day  will  be  is  not  yet  apparent.  Those  who  control 
their  own  time  or  have  less  constraint  than  the  common 
laborer  as  to  limit,  as  a  rule,  are  laboring  more  hours  than 
ordinary  day  laborers.  Individual  employers,  here  and 
there,  have  reduced  voluntarily,  without  reducing  wages, 
the  length  of  the  labor  day.  Uniformity  in  all  occupations 
is  neither  possible  nor  desirable.  The  testimony  of  experi- 
ence is  in  favor  of  increased  productiveness  in  reduced 
time,  and  so  no  loss  to  employer  or  employee.  The  ten- 
hour  day,  with  an  hour  allowed  for  dinner,  let  it  be 
remembered,  extends  from  7  a.  m.  to  6  p.  m.,  and  makes  no 
allowance  for  time  occupied  between  home  and  place  of 
employment.  In  innumerable  cases  its  extremes  of  time, 
with  such  allowance,  are  from  6  a.  m.  to  7  p.  m.  Is  not 
this  too  long  ?  Where  is  family  life  relegated,  under 
such  conditions?  There  is  little  or  none,  except  on  the 
Sabbath  and  on  holidays.  An  hour  gained  at  the  close 
of  the  day  would  be  an  inestimable  gain  ;  likewise  a  half- 
holiday. 

N.  P.  Oilman,  in  his  recent  volume  on  "  Socialism  and  the 
American  Spirit,"  says  : 

"  Beyond  a  doubt,  the  last  hour  of  the  usual  ten-hour 
day  is  the  least  productive  under  common  conditions.  .  . 
Undoubtedly  a  much  stronger  case  can  be  made  out  for  a 
nine-hour  day  than  for  an  eight-hour  day.  .  .  The  only 
shortening  of  the  day's  work  deserving  serious  consideration 
is  one  which  makes  no  reduction  in  the  existing  rate  of 
wages.  .  .  A  nine-hour  day  is  plainly  practicable  now  in 
many  industries,  with  no  decrease  of  the  product.  .  .  The 
duty  of  the  employer  to-day  is  plain,  to  take  wise  for- 
ward steps  and  do  his  share  in  the  evolution  of  modern 
industry." 


404  THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 

THE   LABOR  QUESTION. 

ALFRED    WHEELER,   D.   D. 

What  shall  be  the  relations  the  laborer  is  to  sustain  to 
the  employer,  what  the  rewards  of  labor,  what  the  hours 
of  toil  that  are  to  entitle  the  toiler  to  a  day's  wages  ;  these 
are  inquiries  that  urgently  call  for  an  answer,  and  the 
urgency  is  becoming  greater  every  day.  The  complica- 
tions  attending  their  satisfactory  answering  are  multiply, 
ing  every  day,  and  the  sooner  the  best  intelligence  and 
the  best  heart  of  the  nation  are  given  to  the  solution  of  the 
problems  involved  the  better.  It  may  not  be  amiss  in 
passing  to  inject  the  inquiry  at  this  point,  whether  the 
Church,  holding  as  she  does  in  her  hands  those  great  prin- 
ciples which,  in  their  practical  application,  are  to  transform 
the  world  and  reduce  all  its  disorders,  is  measuring  up  to 
her  duty,  or  is  even  adequately  appreciating  what  that 
duty  is. 

Political  contention  is  determined  by  the  labor  policies 
advocated  by  the  respective  parties  thereto.  The  key  to 
the  situation  is  the  workshop,  and  the  laboring  men  hold  it. 
They  will  keep  in  or  they  will  put  out ;  they  will  let  in  or 
they  will  keep  out.  They  are  the  arbiters  in  the  contest, 
and  all  admit  it.  Their  right  to  be  is  conceded  by  plat- 
forms, and  the  grounds  urged  by  each  party  for  the  support 
of  all  classes  of  society.  This  is  the  repetition  of  history, 
the  workingman  coming  forward  claiming  his  rights, 
demanding  recognition  and  seeking  by  political  methods 
for  relief  from  the  hard  conditions  under  which  life  is 
passing  away,  with  but  little  joy  and  few  prospects.  That 
he  has  reason  for  complaint  is  not  denied  ;  that  his  struggle 
for  a  better  fate  is  praiseworthy  is  confessed,  and  that  his 
ambition  to  place  his  family  in  happier  relations  is  manly, 
goes  without  controversy.  He  may  not  be  wise  in  his 
#  struggles,  his  demands  may  embrace  so  much  as  to  be 
unjust,  his  ambitions  may  be  wild  and  forbidden  realization 


LABOR  DAY. 


405 


by  the  general  good  of  society,  but  his  discontent  is  not 
groundless,  and  his  duty  to  endeavor  to  remove  those 
grounds  is  plain. 

Let   some  facts  be  regarded   having   practical  bearing 
upon  the  matters  under  consideration. 

I.  Riches,  wealth,  are  the  product  of  labor.     They  can 
be  produced  in  no  other  way  than  by  toil.     Speculation, 
sharpness,  superior  knowledge,  and  skill   appropriate  but 
never  create.     Sweat  of  brow  and  brain  must  do  this  ;  and 
he  that  contributes  the  latter  does  as  much,  more  indeed, 
to  create  wealth,  than  he  who  has  hands  hardened  by  pick 
or   shoulders   rounded  by  hod.     And   yet   all   productive 
labor  is  complementary,  and  he  that  furnishes  strength  of 
muscle,  and    he  who   gives   activity  of   brain,  are   simply 
partners   in    an    immense   enterprise   carried   on    for   the 
common  benefit  of   all.     There  should   be  no   jarring  or 
envy  between  the  two,  and  in  a  perfect  condition  of  society 
there  would  be  none.     Both  would  share,  as  both  ought  to, 
in  the  prosperity  that  comes  from  their  conjoined  efforts. 
He  that  contributes  money  instead  of  strength  of  muscle 
or  activity  of  brain,  sustains  the  same  relation  to  the  great 
undertaking,  that  of  making  society  better  and   happier, 
that  each  of  the  others  does,  and  should  not  be  specially 
favored  in  the  outcome. 

II.  The  increase  of  wealth  during  the  last  half  century 
has  been  prodigious,  but  comparatively  it  is  in  the  hands 
of  the  few,  and  the  ease  and  enjoyment  which  spring  there- 
from are  in  great  measure  theirs.  Not  that  even  the  day 
laborer  has  not  been  benefitted  by  the  progress  of  civiliza- 
tion, and  the  industrial  developments  of  the  times,  and 
the  many  inventions  which  save  manual  labor,  but  his 
share  in  these  benefits  has  not  been  what  he  had  a  right 
to  expect  ;  he  has  not  received  his  just  proportion  of  the 
profits  which  labor  has  earned.  The  contrast  between  him 
and  his  employer,  which  ten  years  have  made,  is  too  pro- 
nounced, the  gulf  of  worldly  estate  which  separates  them 
is  too  wide  and  too  deep. 


40  6 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


III.  Discontent  with  this  state  of  things  is  inevitable 
and  the  determination  to  find  a  remedy  is  legitimate,  and 
may  not  be  charged  as  perilous  communism. 

IV.  Business  and  legislation  suggest  two  prominent 
methods  of  meeting  the  exigencies  of  the  situation, 
co-operative  labor  and  fewer  hours  of  work  per  day.  Why 
may  not  both  be  adopted?  The  former  has  proven 
eminently  successful  in  England,  in  some  departments  of 
labor,  and  there  is  no  reason  why  it  should  not  here,  the 
needed  experience  being  acquired  for  its  management. 
But  why  should  not  the  workingman's  demand,  that  eight 
hour's  labor  be  regarded  as  a  day's  work,  and  paid  for  as 
such,  be  acceded  to  "> 

V.  The  Church  should  not  be  a  silent  witness  to  the 
struggle  now  going  on  between  capital  and  labor.  She 
alone  has  the  secret,  whereby  the  strife  may  be  settled,  in 
those  principles  of  benevolence  and  love,  which  are  the 
principles  of  a  common  brotherhood,  and  once  adopted, 
must  work  the  rapid  transformation  of  all  social  conditions. 
She  must  not  allowed  herself  to  be  justly  charged  with 
oppressing  the  laborer  in  his  hive,  or  standing  by,  voice- 
less, in  the  presence  of  the  oppressor.  Her  arm  must  ever 
be  employed  to  lift  up,  never  to  weigh  down.  As  in  feudal 
times  the  poor  toiling  millions  looked  to  her  as  God's 
organized  expression  of  mercy  and  care,  so  should  they  at 
all  times,  and  in  all  lands,  be  justified  in  looking  to  her  for 
sympathy  and  help.  She  must  insist  upon  the  practical 
embodiment  of  the  truths  she  advocates  as  divine  in  all 
political,  and  social,  and  industrial  relations  as  well  as 
religious. 


THE  LABOR  QUESTION— HOBBIES. 

The  evil  to  be  cured  is  the  oppression  of  the  poor  by  the 
rich.  The  toiler  in  the  mill,  the  factory,  the  mine,  thinks 
himself  a  slave  to  the  owner  of  the  mill,  the  mine,  or  factory. 


LABOR  DAY. 


407 


He  compares  his  lot  with  that  of  the  rich  man  ;  his  labor 
with  the  rich  man's  ease  ;  his  coarse  fare  with  the  rich 
man's  luxury  ;  and  thinks  himself  enslaved  and  trampled 
upon  by  rich  men.  This  discontent  organizes  itself  for 
redress,  and  demands  a  revolution  in  the  affairs  of  business 
and  in  the  general  state  of  society,  that  the  poor  man  may 
be  respected  and  that  the  laborer  may  have  just  compensa- 
tion for  his  labor. 

Many  ways  to  set  things  right  are  proposed.  Almost 
every  week  brings  some  new  publication  advocating  some 
new  theory,  and  each  theorist  is  confident  that  he  has  just 
the  plan  for  settling  all  the  trouble. 

"  The  land  scheme  "  is  Henry  George's  hobby.  He 
would  tax  land,  and  exempt  from  taxation  all  improvements 
on  the  land.  To  tax  improvements  which  a  man,  by  his 
industry,  puts  upon  the  land,  it  is  insisted,  is  to  tax  enter- 
prise and  put  a  penalty  upon  improvement.  Let  all  land  be 
taxed  an  amount  equal  to  its  yearly  rental  and  then  no  man 
will  hold  land  who  does  not  improve  it,  and  all  who  do  hold 
land  will  be  virtually  renters  from  the  government. 

Another  sees  the  end  of  oppression  and  of  all  debt  in 
increasing  the  bulk  of  money  in  the  country.  Let  there  be 
a  sufficient  amount  of  money  put  in  circulation  to  represent 
the  purchase  value  of  things  bought  and  sold,  and  no  debts 
will  be  made. 

Another  brings  out  a  co-operative  scheme.  Let  the 
employee  share  with  his  employer  in  the  profits  of  business, 
pro  ratdy  according  to  a  schedule  agreed  upon,  and  harmony 
will  be  established  and  all  the  best  efforts  of  employees 
called  out  to  promote  the  interests  of  proprietors. 

The  moralist  has  a  short  method.  Laws  and  social 
regulations  will  not  avail  ;  he  says  :  "  Let  everybody  keep 
the  Golden  Rule  and  all  will  be  right." 

A  sensible  man  finds  little  comfort  even  though  so  many 
remedies  for  the  great  evil  are  set  before  him.  "  Mr. 
George's  scheme,"  he  says, ''  is  utterly  impractical.  It  can- 
not be  made  to  operate  equally  and  justly  upon  all.     An 


H 


408 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


ownership  in  land  is  a  necessary  basis  for  enterprise. 
Improvements  do  not  always,  nor  even  generally,  represent 
the  personal  industry  and  enterprise  of  the  man  who  owns 
them  ;  and  as  the  country  grows  older  it  must  be  more  and 
more  so,  as  property  will  become  more  and  more  a  birth- 
right inheritance." 

Inflation  of  the  currency  will  not  obliterate  debt.  As  the 
amount  of  money  in  circulation  is  increased  the  disposition 
to  spend  it  is  increased.  Men  who  are  prodigal  and  thrift- 
less will  not  be  made  less  so  by  an  increase  of  money. 

The  co-operative  system  cannot  be  applied  to  one-fourth 
of  the  business  enterprises  and  operations  going  on.  Will 
the  farmer  get  his  plowman  to  agree  to  go  without  pay  if 
the  season  is  unfavorable  and  the  crop  fails  ?  Will  the  man 
who  takes  the  risk  of  making  or  losing  a  fortune  in  the 
mines,  at  the  end  of  a  five  years*  experiment,  find  laborers 
to  take  the  risk  with  him  ?  Will  any  day  laborer  be  able  to 
take  risks  upon  the  loss  of  his  labor  as  his  employer  takes 
risks  upon  the  loss  of  his  capital  ?  But  is  the  employee  to 
expect  to  share  the  gains  of  capital  without  sharing  its 
risks  ? 

When  one  man  owns  the  means  invested,  and  so  chooses 
in  what  way  he  will  make  the  investment,  will  another  man 
risk  his  bread  upon  the  wisdom  of  the  movement  ?  In  any 
certain  business,  which  has  been  well  established,  is  perma- 
nent, and  sure  of  dividends,  according  to  the  labor  bestowed 
on  it,  the  co-operative  scheme  might  be  applied.  But,  as  in 
the  competitions  of  business,  men  pay  for  faithful  and  skilled 
labor  according  to  what  they  expect  to  make  out  of  it,  we 
see  nothing  better,  and  nothing  really  different  from  this  in 
a  co-operative  scheme  and  mutual  profit  sharing. 

As  to  the  remedy  which  the  moralist  holds  out,  it  is 
undoubtedly  good,  but  we  must  wait  for  the  application 
until  the  millennium. 

For  a  common  evil  there  is  no  specific  remedy,  and  the 
man  who  thinks  that  he  has  found  such  a  remedy  is  a 
fanatic.     What   evil   is   removed    by    legislation  ?     None. 


LABOR  DAY. 


409 


Murder,  theft,  and  all  manner  of  crimes  go  on  in  spite  of 
any  legislation.  Does  one  therefore  say  that  is  useless  to 
legislate  ?  That  would  be  absurd.  It  would  be  folly  not 
to  apply  the  check  of  law,  and  equal  folly  to  expect  the 
law  to  do  everything.  The  moral  or  religious  teacher  who 
says  you  must  change  the  hearts  of  men,  and  so  accounts 
legal  restraint  nothing,  is  a  fanatic.  A  morality  of  religion 
which  does  not  express  itself  in  law  is  in  itself  a  contradic- 
tion. A  father  who  is  honest  will  not  allow  his  son  to  steal 
if  he  can  help  it.  Neither  is  there  honesty  in  the  community 
or  commonwealth  that  does  not  restrain  crime  by  force 
when  it  can  be  done. 

To  remove  oppression  and  injustice  we  must  operate  in 
many  ways,  and  the  wisest  men  and  those  who  constitute 
the  conservative  force  of  the  country  are  those  who  labor 
along  many  lines  to  remove  existing  evils  ;  who  labor 
patiently  and  life-long,  and  do  not  demand  even  for  such 
labor  any  promise  of  the  entire  removal  of  the  evils  they 
oppose.  He  who  bequeaths  to  the  coming  generations  such 
an  example  of  patient  opposition  to  all  that  is  wrong, 
bequeaths  that  which  is  of  more  worth  than  all  the  thrones, 
for  the  perfecting  of  human  society. 

Southwestern  Methodist. 


THE  LABOR  PROBLEM. 

There  are  some  fundamental  principles  which  should 
not  be  overlooked  by  the  working  class  of  our  day. 

It  is  well,  first  of  all,  for  the  working  classes  to  remember 
that  brains  command  money  ;  and  as  there  is  a  great  differ- 
ence in  the  brain  power  of  different  men,  even  so  must  there 
ever  be  a  wide  difference  in  their  position  in  the  industrial 
world,  and  in  their  financial  fortune.  It  is  well  that  it  is 
so.  There  are  in  the  world's  workship,  first,  second,  third, 
fourth,  and  fifth  grades  of  work  to  be  done  ;  and  we  all, 
according  to  capacity,  take  our  place  where  we  naturally 


w 


410 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


belong.  There  are  forests  to  be  leveled,  stumps  to  be 
uprooted,  roads  to  be  constructed,  manufacturing  establish- 
ments to  be  *'  manned  ";  in  a  word,  that  class  of  work  that 
requires  "brawn"  rather  than  ** brain"  is  to  be  done. 
And  here  is  a  class  of  men  who,  in  the  absence  of  genius 
of  the  higher  sort,  are  adapted  to  fill  just  these  places. 
Nor  is  it  anything  against  these  men  to  tell  them  so.  Were 
it  a  disgrace  to  possess  little  genius,  then  many  of  us  are 
sadly  disgraced.  The  only  reason  why  this  writer  is  not  a 
poet  like  Longfellow  or  an  artist  like  to  Raphael  is  simply 
because  he  does  not  possess  the  genius — the  brains.  Had  he 
the  genius  to  make  ten  thousand  dollars  a  year,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  he  would  make  it.  But,  as  he  has  not  the  neces- 
sary genius,  he  has  to  be  content  to  make  a  living.  It  is  a 
hard  lesson  for  poor  human  nature,  with  all  its  restless- 
ness, to  learn  that  we  are  to  "  be  content  with  such  things 
as  we  have." 

There  is  a  duty  that  the  employer  always  owes  to  the 
employee,  and  that  is  to  give  him,  by  way  of  compensation, 
the  full  value  of  his  labor.  The  disposition  on  the  part  of 
some  rich  employers  to  grind  the  faces  of  the  poor,  taking 
advantage  of  their  necessities  and  securing  their  services  at 
half  what  they  are  worth,  is  a  shameful  wrong,  and  it  will, 
sooner  or  later,  ripen  into  revolution  anywhere.  You  might 
just  as  well  try  to  stay,  by  uplifted  hand,  the  storm  as  it 
careers  along  the  mountain  slopes,  as  to  always  hold  in 
subjection  the  man  who  feels  that  he  has  been  wronged. 
Every  man  should  receive  what  his  labor  is  worth,  even  if 
the  employer  does  not  pile  up  wealth  quite  so  rapidly. 
The  Saviour's  golden  rule,  "  Whatsoever  ye  would  that 
others  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them  " — how 
many  wrongs  between  man  and  man  it  would  make  right, 
and  how  it  would  bless  the  world  with  sunshine  and  happi- 
ness, if  practiced. 

There  are  one  or  two  things  that  Christians,  possessed  of 
wealth  and  occupying  fine  social  position,  may  do  for  the 
workingmen.      And,  first  of  all,  let  them  be  treated  with 


LABOR  DAY. 


411 


kindness  and  Christian  courtesy.  We  don't  want  to 
approach  them  in  any  patronizing  way;  neither  speak  to 
them  in  such  way  as  to  indicate  that  we  regard  it  an  act  of 
great  condescension,  for  which  they  ought  to  be  grateful. 
The  world  is  quick  to  detect  shams,  and,  sooner  or  later, 
everything  in  the  way  of  insult  will  be  resented. 

Another  thing  that  Christians  need  to  do,  is  to  try  to  lead 
the  laboring  classes  to  Christ.  We  talk  about  law,  at  times, 
as  the  instrument  whereby  vicious  habits  are  to  be 
restrained,  man  lifted,  and  a  better  condition  of  society  and 
of  morals  secured.  But  law,  of  itself,  is  powerless.  Indeed, 
we  have  reached  the  point  in  history  where  men  seem  to 
have  little  regard  either  for  law  or  its  penalties.  The 
majesty  of  law  is  set  at  naught,  and  its  requirements 
trampled  under  foot  by  very  many  without  fear  of  con- 
sequences, account  for  it  as  we  may.  The  only  remedy  is 
to  lead  these  men  to  Christ.  Teach  them  to  love  God,  and 
to  do  right — not  because  there  is  a  penalty  attached  to  the 
law  which  they  transgress,  but  simply  for  the  sake  of  right. 
Let  them  be  put  in  love  with  right  by  being  brought  to 

love  God. 

Weston  Recorder. 


LABOR    ORGANIZATIONS. 

REV.   C.    H.   ZIMMERMAN,   EVANSTON,   ILL. 

In  a  militant  state  of  industry,  governed  by  selfishness, 
the  organization  of  labor  is  necessary  to  secure  and  protect 
the  rights  of  workingmen.  When  the  gospel  gains  its 
intended  sway  over  mankind,  and  industrial  life  is  governed 
by  the  Golden  Rule,  there  will  be  no  combin^itions  of 
capital  and  labor  warring  against  one  another.  Such 
organizations  as  will  then  exist  will  be  made  up  of  both 
classes  intermingled,  and  men  will  see  that  the  interests  of 
capital  and  labor  are  mutual ;  that  one  cannot  be  injured 
and  depressed  without  injuring  the  other.     It  will  then  be 


412 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


seen  that  '*  we  are  members  one  of  another";  that  when 
one  individual  or  class  suffers,  the  whole  body  of  societ}'' 
suffers  ;  that  an  injury  to  one  is  the  concern  of  all,  and  the 
welfare  of  each  the  interest  of  all;  and  that  the  common 
weal  requires  the  improvement  in  the  condition  of  wage- 
workers,  materially,  morally,  and  intellectually. 

It  is  not  many  years  since  the  right  of  wage-workers  to 
organize  was  denied.  Society  has  not  yet  quite  outgrown 
the  ideas  which  prevailed  in  feudal  times,  that  the  many 
were  born  to  be  menials  and  servants,  the  products  of 
whose  toil  should  go  to  maintain  a  few  lords  and  masters  in 
wealth  and  ease,  and  that  this  was  a  providential  arrange- 
ment. For  centuries  legislation  was  governed  by  this 
theory.  The  laws  were  made  by  and  for  the  privileged 
few,  and  against  the  laboring  classes.  It  is  a  matter  of 
history  that  the  first  labor  organizations  in  England  were 
for  the  purpose  of  resisting  such  legislation,  and  that  they 
were  bitterly  contested  by  the  ruling  classes.  The  law  was 
frequently  invoked  to  break  up  labor  unions  ;  men  were 
imprisoned  for  joining  them,  and  even  for  demanding  an 
increase  of  wages. 

There  has  been  a  marvelous  change  in  England  during 
the  last  fifty  years.  Nowhere  is  labor  so  thoroughly  organ- 
ized, and  nowhere  has  it  acquired  greater  power.  It  has 
representatives  in  Parliament ;  has  removed  from  the 
statute  books  many  laws  that  were  oppressive  to  wage-earn- 
ing and  tenant  classes,  and  .secured  the  wisest  and  most 
elaborate  factory  legislation  to  be  found  in  the  world. 
Trades  unions  are  now  recognized  by  the  state  as  legiti- 
mate and  necessary  organizations.  Their  rights  and  func- 
tions are  clearly  defined.  They  are  regularly  incorporated  ; 
are  thus  made  amenable  to  the  law,  and  are  protected  by 
it  in  the  exercise  of  their  proper  functions. 

In  these  respects  labor  organization  in  England  is  far  in 
advance  of  this  country.  It  is  comparatively  new  here  ; 
and  we  have  had  since  it  began  many  of  the  excesses  that 
characterized  it  during  its  first  century  in  England.     Though 


LABOR   DAY. 


413 


much  effort  has  been  made  to  secure  a  legal  status  for 
trades  unions,  in  none  of  the  States  have  they  been  incor- 
porated. They  are  extra-legal  organizations,  and  cannot 
be  held  responsible  for  the  illegal  acts  of  their  members. 
They  have  no  charters  to  forfeit  by  violations  of  law,  nor 
are  their  rights  and  functions  clearly  defined.  Individual 
members  who  are  detected  in  the  Ose  of  violence  against 
non-union  men  and  in  destroying  property  are  punished  ; 
but  walking  delegates,  advisory  committees,  and  other 
officials  who  secretly  instigate  lawless  proceedings,  escape. 
Labor  organizations  ought  to  be  incorporated.  Their 
purposes,  rights,  and  privileges  should  be  clearly  defined 
by  law.  They  should  be  held  responsible  for  the  conduct 
of  their  members,  and  be  compelled  to  make  good  any 
losses  or  injuries  caused  by  their  members  under  penalties 
of  forfeiting  their  charters,  and  of  the  prosecution  and 
punishment  of  their  officials.  Such  legislation  would  be  a 
protection  to  organizations  that  are  properly  conducted, 
as  well  as  a  safeguard  against  lawless  action,  and  would  be 
an  important  step  toward  the  solution  of  the  labor  problem. 

Western  Recorder. 


THE    COURTS    AND    LABOR    ORGANIZATIONS. 

Judge  Ricks  of  the  United  States  Circuit  Court  of 
Toledo,  O.,  Judge  Taft  of  the  same  court  of  Cincinnati,  and 
Judge  Billings  of  the  same  court  of  New  Orleans,  have 
rendered  decisions  that  have  wonderfully  stirred  labor 
organizations.  The  cases,  stated  in  a  general  way,  are  in 
substance  about  as  follows:  The  locomotive  engineers  on 
the  Ann  Arbor  Railroad  belonging  to  the  Brotherhood 
having  gone  out  on  a  strike,  the  engineers  on  other  roads 
connecting  with  the  one  above  named,  and  who  belonged 
to  the  same  organization,  refused  to  handle  or  haul  the 
cars  of  the  Ann  Arbor  road  until  the  difficulty  between  the 
road  and  the  striking  engineers  was  adjusted.     This  was 


414 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


in  accordance  with  Rule  No.  12  of  the  Brotherhood,  which 
reads  as  follows  : 

"  That  hereafter  where  an  issue  has  been  sustained  by 
the  grand  chief,  and  carried  into  effect  by  the  Brotherhood 
of  Locomotive  Engineers,  it  shall  be  recognized  as  a  viola- 
tion of  obligation  for  a  member  of  the  Brotherhood,  who 
may  be  employed  on  a  railroad,  running  in  connection  with 
or  adjacent  to  said  railroad,  to  handle  the  property  belong- 
ing to  said  railroad  or  system  in  any  way  that  may  benefit 
said  company  with  which  the  Brotherhood  has  its  issue, 
until  the  grievance  or  issue  of  whatever  nature  or  kind  has 
been  amicably  settled." 

The  authorities  of  the  roads  whose  engineers  refused  to 
handle  the  cars  of  the  Ann  Arbor  road  brought  the  matter 
before  Judge  Ricks,  and  he  ruled  that  the  engineers  had 
no  right  to  boycott  the  Ann  Arbor  road  because  its  engi- 
neers  were  on  a  strike,  and  that  to  do  so  was  to  be  guilty 
of  a  misdemeanor  and  render  themselves  punishable  for 
obstructing  commerce. 

The  rulings  of  Judges  Taft  and  Billings  are  in  effect  the 
same,  only  they  go  farther  and  assert  that  for  a  chief  to 
order  a  strike  is  to  render  himself  thus  liable.  Of  course 
these  decisions  have  greatly  stirred  labor  organizations 
throughout  the  country.  Their  leading  men  claim  that  they 
are  a  gross  infringement  upon  the  rights  of  organized  labor, 
and  that  if  sustained  will  prove  the  end  of  all  labor  organi- 
zations. They  further  charge  that  the  unanimity  of  these 
decisions  is  evidence  of  an  organized  effort  upon  the  part 
of  capitalists  and  monopolies  to  disrupt  and  annihilate  all 
labor  organizations  throughout  the  country. 

Whether  these  surmises  and  inferences  are  well  founded 
or  not  time  will  develop.  For  our  part  we  do  not  believe 
they  are.  Honorable  judges  like  those  named  are  not  and 
never  will  be  the  subservient  tools  of  capital  as  against 
labor.  There  are  certain  great  fundamental  principles  of 
equity  that  do  and  must  ever  underlie  the  relations  of  capi- 
tal and  labor.     These  must  be  recognized  sooner  or  later. 


LABOR  DAY. 


415 


Laborers  have  certain  rights  which  the  courts  are  bound 
to  respect.  To  disregard  or  override  these  rights  in  the 
interests  of  capital  would  be  an  attempt  to  re-establish 
slavery.  This  no  court  wishes  to  do,  much  less  would  any 
court  be  so  foolish  as  in  any  way  to  make  itself  a  tool  to 
that  end. 

Labor  has  a  right  to  secure  for  itself  the  best  returns 
possible,  consistetit  with  the  rights  of  others.  To  this  end  it 
has  the  right  to  form  and  maintain  labor  organizations. 
These  organizations,  properly  directed,  are  legitimate,  and 
benefit  labor.  But  as  every  good  thing  is  susceptible  of 
abuse,  so  are  they.  When  they  are  used  to  prevent  others 
outside  of  their  pale  from  securing  employment,  or  to  injure 
or  destroy  the  capital  that  gives  them  employment,  then 
they  become  abusers  of  the  rights  belonging  to  them,  and 
by  so  doing  forfeit  their  right  to  exist. 

No  one  will,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  deny  a  man — 
or  a  thousand  men,  for  that  matter — the  right  to  quit  work 
whenever  he  c\\oos>qs, provided  he  has  not,  by  a  special  co7itr act ^ 
obligated  himself  to  work  up  to  a  time  specified  in  the  con- 
tract. But  if  a  man  has  obligated  himself  to  work  at  a 
fixed  rate  of  wages  for  a  certain  length  of  time,  and  when 
his  employer  is  least  able  to  dispense  with  his  services,  and 
before  the  time  has  expired  for  which  he  obligated  himself 
to  work,  quits  without  giving  previous  notice,  simply  to 
embarrass  his  employer  or  to  extort  from  him  higher  wages, 
then  the  courts  should  hold  him  liable  for  damages.  Equity 
demands  nothing  less  than  this.  If  a  capitalist  employs  a 
man  to  work  for  him  a  year  and  discharges  him  at  the  end 
of  six  months  without  sufficient  cause,  the  courts  will  com- 
pel the  capitalist  to  pay  the  laborer  damages  ;  and  the  rule 
should  work  both  ways. 

And  right  here,  we  believe,  is  the  remedy  for  strikes. 
Let  those  employing  labor  contract  with  their  men  for  a 
certain  length  of  time  at  a  certain  price.  Let  the  contract 
be  specific,  and  accord  the  privilege  of  renewal  at  the  time 
of  expiration   with  the  consent  of  both  parties.     Then  if 


Mff 


\M% 


410 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


either  party  violates  the  conditions  the  courts  will  hold  the 
party  thus  guilty  to  answer.  If  railroads  were  thus  to  con- 
tract with  their  employees  a  general  strike  would  be  impos- 
sible ;  nor  would  there  be  any  occasion  for  one.  The  rights 
of  both  parties  would  be  guarded  and  guaranteed  by  the 
contract  and  the  courts. 

Laborers  have  the  right,  each  for  himself,  to  say  what 
wages  they  will  work  for.  They  also  have  the  right  to  quit 
work  when  they  please,  unless  they  have  bound  them- 
selves by  special  contract  to  serve  longer.  But  they  have 
not  the  right  to  dictate  terms  to  others,  nor  to  prevent 
others  from  taking  their  places  if  they  do  not  choose  to 
work. 

They  may  use  persuasion  and  argument  to  induce  others 
to  refuse  to  work  for  less  pay  than  they  themselves  are 
willing  to  work  for;  but  all  blacklisting,  boycotting,  and 
refusing  to  work  with  men  who  do  not  belong  to  their  order 
is  tyranny  of  the  worst  kind,  and  works  injury  and  hardship 
to  the  mass  of  common  toilers,  and  the  courts  should 
interpose  to  prevent  and  right  these  wrongs  whenever 
possible. 

We  believe  that  as  yet  public  sentiment  is  strongly  in 
favor  of  the  laborers  and  against  the  powerful  corporations 
and  monopolies  that  seek  to  oppress  them.  We  are  sure  it 
is  opposed  to  the  use  of  private  armed  force  to  intimidate 
or  control  laborers.  But  we  are  equally  sure  that  public 
sentiment  is  overwhelmingly  opposed  to  the  preconcerted 
strikes  which  interrupt  commerce  and  seek  to  extort 
unreasonable  conditions.  If  the  dissatisfied  prefer  to  quit 
work,  let  them  do  so  ;  but  they  must  not  seek  by  force  to 
prevent  others  from  taking  their  places  who  are  willing  and 
anxious  to  do  so.  Strikers  who  resort  to  violence,  and 
will  neither  work  themselves  nor  permit  others  to  work, 
are  anarchists,  and  in  the  interests  of  law  and  order 
their  power  must  be  crushed  under  the  iron  heel  of  the 
law. 

Religious  Telescope. 


LABOR  DAY.  4^7 


THE  DIGNITY  OF  LABOR. 

ERNEST   GILMORE. 

An  American  President,  when  asked  what  was  his  coat 
of  arms,  replied,  *'  A  pair  of  shirtsleeves." 

When  a  lady  asked  Turner,  the  celebrated  English 
painter,  what  his  secret  was,  he  replied,  *'  I  have  no  secret, 
madam,  but  hard  work." 

During  the  Revolution,  a  commander  of  a  little  squad 
was  giving  orders  relative  to  a  stick  of  timber  they  were 
endeavoring  to  raise  to  the  top  of  some  military  works. 
The  timber  went  up  very  heavily,  and  on  this  account  the 
voice  of  the  commander  was  often  heard  in  regular  vocifera- 
tions of  "  Heave  away  !  "  "  There  she  goes  !  "  "  Heave 
ho  !  "  An  officer,  not  in  military  costume,  was  passing,  and 
asked  the  commander  why  he  did  not  take  hold  and  help  a 
little.  The  latter,  astonished,  said,  '*  Sir,  I  am  a  corporal !  " 
"  You  are,  are  you  ? "  replied  the  officer  ;  **  I  was  not  aware 
of  that."  Upon  this  he  dismounted,  and  lifted  till  the 
sweat  stood  in  drops  on  his  forehead,  and  when  finished, 
turning  to  the  commander  he  said,  "  Mr.  Corporal,  when 
you  have  another  such  job  as  this,  and  have  not  men 
enough,  send  for  your  commander-in-chief  and  I  will  come 
and  help  you  a  second  time."  The  corporal  was  thunder- 
struck.    It  was  General  Washington. 

A  French  doctor  once  taunted  Flechier,  Bishop  of 
Nismes,  who  had  been  a  tallow  chandler  in  his  youth,  with 
the  meanness  of  his  origin  ;  to  which  he  replied  "  If  you 
had  been  born  in  the  same  condition  that  I  was,  you  would 
still  have  been  but  a  maker  of  candles." 

There  is  no  shame  in  honest  labor,  however  humble  it 
may  be.  Wise  indeed  are  the  parents  who  thus  teach  their 
children.  Beecher,  in  speaking  of  men  who  were  ashamed 
of  labor,  says  :  '*  After  they  have  built  up  a  business  and 
amassed  a  fortune,  they  say  to  their  sons:  *  You  shall  never 
do  as  I  did  ;  you  shall  lead  a  different  life  ;  you  shall  be 


ii-fF 


4i8 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


spared  all  this.*  Oh,  the  rich  men's  sons  !  they  aim  to  lead 
a  life  of  emasculated  idleness  and  laziness.  Like  the  polyp 
that  floats  useless  and  nasty  upon  the  sea — all  jelly  and 
flabby,  no  muscle,  no  bone,  it  shuts  and  opens,  and  opens 
and  shuts,  it  sucks  in  and  squirts  out  again,  of  no  earthly 
account,  influence,  or  use — such  are  these  poor  fools. 
Their  parents  toiled  and  grew  strong,  built  up  their  forms 
of  iron  and  bone  ;  but  denying  all  this  to  their  sons,  they 
turn  them  upon  the  world  boneless,  muscleless,  simple 
gristle,  and  soft  at  that." 

An  Italian  proverb  says,  *'  He  who  labors  is  tempted  by 
one  devil  ;  he  that  is  idle,  by  a  thousand." 

Karamsin,  the  Russian  traveler,  having  observed  Lavater's 
diligence  in  study,  visiting  the  sick,  and  relieving  the  poor, 
greatly  suprised  at  his  activity,  said  to  him,  ''Whence 
have  you  so  much  strength  of  mind  and  power  of  endur- 
ance ?" 

**  My  friend,"  replied  he,  "  man  rarely  wants  the  power 
to  work  when  he  possesses  the  will  ;  the  more  I  labor  in  the 
discharge  of  my  duties,  so  much  the  more  ability  and 
inclination  to  labor  do  I  constantly  find  within  myself." 

Binney  says:  "  God  is  constantly  teaching  us  that  nothing 
valuable  is  ever  obtained  without  labor  ;  and  that  no  labor 
can  be  honestly  expended  without  our  getting  our  value  in 
return.  He  is  not  careful  to  make  everything  easy  to  man. 
The  Bible  itself  is  no  light  book  ;  human  duty  no  holiday 
engagement.  The  grammar  of  deep  personal  religion  and 
the  grammar  of  real  practical  virtue  are  not  to  be  learned 
by  any  facile  Hamiltonian  methods." 

Honest  labor  is  abundantly  fruitful  in  blessings.  The 
healthfulness  of  labor  is  illustrated  in  the  following  tale 
from  the  "Arabian  Nights"  :  A  king  had  long  languished 
under  an  ill  habit  of  body,  and  had  taken  many  remedies 
without  relief.  At  length  a  physician  cured  him  by  the 
following  method  :  He  took  a  hollow  ball  of  wood,  and 
filled  it  with  several  drugs  ;  after  which  he  closed  it  up  so 
artificially  that  nothing  appeared.     He  likewise  took  a  mall, 


LABOR  DAY. 


419 


m 


and  after  having  hollowed  the  handle  and  that  part  which 
strikes  the  ball,  he  closed  in  them  several  drugs  after  the 
same  manner  as  the  bail  itself.  He  then  ordered  the 
sultan,  who  was  his  patient,  to  exercise  himself  early  m 
the  morning  with  these  rightly  prepared  instruments  till 
such  a  time  as  he  should  sweat ;  when,  as  the  story  goes, 
the  virtue  of  the  medicaments  perspiring  through  the  wood 
had  so  good  an  influence  on  the  sultan's  constitution  that 
they  cured  him  of  an  indisposition  which  all  the  composi- 
tions he  had  taken  inwardly  had  not  been  able  to  remove. 

King  Antigonus,  when  he  had  not  for  a  long  time  seen 
Cleanthes  the  philosopher,  said  to  him,  ''  Dost  thou  yet, 
O  Cleanthes,  continue  to  grind?"  "Yes,  sire,"  replied 
Cleanthes,  **  and  that  I  do  to  gain  my  living,  and  not  to 
depart  from  philosophy." 

Plutarch,  in  commenting  upon  the  above,  remarks:  "  How 
great  and  generous  was  the  courage  of  this  man  who,  coming 
from  the  mill  and  the  kneading  trough,  did,  with  the  same 
hand  which  had  been  employed  in  turning  the  stone  and 
molding  the  dough,  write  of  the  nature  of  the  gods,  moon, 

stars,  and  sun." 

Benaventura,  the  Seraphic  Doctor,  was  general  of  the 
Franciscan  Order,  one  of  whose  rules  required  a  rotation  of 
work  among  the  members.  Gregory  X.  sent  him  a  cardmal's 
hat  by  two  nuncios,  who  found  him  in  the  kitchen  washnig 
the  plates  after  dinner.  The  nuncios  were  amazed.  The 
Seraphic  Doctor  without  a  blush  excused  himself  from 
attending  to  their  business  till  he  had  finished  his  dishes. 
So  the  cardinal's  hat  was  hung  on  a  dogwood  tree  near  the 
kitchen  door  till  the  dishes  were  finished  and  the  new 
cardinal's  hands  were  dried.  There  is  labor  for  all.  We 
are  born  to  work,  and  we  must  work  while  it  is  day,  "  for  , 

the  night  cometh.'* 

Carlylesays:  "  Labor  is  life  ;  from  the  inmost  heart  of 
the  worker  rises  his  God-given  force-the  sacred  celestial 
life-essence  breathed  into  him  by  Almighty  God." 

Spurgeon,  speaking  of  labor,  says:  «'  See  the  spider  casting 


■■\m\ 

c 


m\ 


420 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


out  her  film  to  the  gale  ;  she  feels  persuaded  that  some- 
where or  other  it  will  adhere  and  form  the  commencement 
of  her  web.  She  commits  the  slender  filament  to  the  breeze, 
believing  that  there  is  a  place  provided  for  it  to  fix  itself.' 
In  this  fashion  should  we  believingly  cast  forth  our 
endeavors  in  this  life,  confident  that  God  will  find  a  place 
for  us.  He  who  bids  us  play  and  work,  will  aid  our  efforts 
and  guide  us  in  his  providence  the  right  way.  Sit  not  still 
in  despair,  O  son  of  toil,  but  again  cast  out  the  floating 
thread  of  hopeful  endeavor  and  the  wind  of  love  will  bear 
it  to  its  resting  place." 

Christian  at  Work. 


THE  DIGNITY  OF  LABOR. 

Labor  is  the  law  of  life.  The  struggle  for  existence 
implies  and  requires  it.  Labor  is  demanded  in  the  devel- 
opment, mastery,  and  utilization  of  the  forces  and  resources 
of  nature. 

Without  labor  man  cannot  hope  to  live.  With  the  cessa- 
tion of  the  necessity  of  labor  barbarism  begins.  Civilization 
consists  in  intelligent  co-operation  for  the  good  of  all. 
Human  society  is  a  unity  only  by  reason  of  the  diversity 
of  gifts  and  co-operation  for  common  benefit.  It  is  a  vast 
organism,  composed  of  many  members  ;  all  have  not  the 
same  office,  though  all  have  the  same  end.  There  is  the 
thinker  and  the  singer,  the  inventor  and  the  artisan,  the 
healer  of  bodily  diseases  and  the  healer  of  moral  maladies. 
There  is  the  tiller  of  the  soil  and  the  navigator  of  the  sea. 
There  is  the  manufacturer  and  the  vender,  the  tutor  and 
the  student,  the  author  and  the  printer. 

The  poorest  helps  the  richest,  and  the  weakest  helps  the 
strongest.  None  can  live  without,  and  none  can  afford  to 
despise,  the  other.  The  feller  of  forests  works  together 
with  architect  and  builder,  the  miner  is  in  harness  with  the 
smith,  the  quarryman  with  the  mason,  the  man  of  brawn 
with  the  man  of  brain. 


LABOR  DAY. 


421 


This  social  law  of  co-operative  association  and  mutual 
dependence  is  to  be  seen  in  ceaseless  operation  everywhere 
around  us,  below  us,  and  above  us.  Everything  leans  on 
and  depends  for  its  completeness  upon  some  other  thing. 
Uniformity  there  is  not,  but  unity  there  is,  and  unity  con- 
sists in  diversity  and  reciprocity. 

Labor  exhibits  its  true  worth  and  power,  not  in  organized 
resistance  and  open  defiance  of  law  and  order,  but  by  sub- 
ordinating all  laws  and  forces  and  elements  to  the  well- 
being  of  society.  The  real  peril  of  industry  is  that  labor 
shall  become  blind  to  its  true  interests  and,  Samson-like, 
pull  down  the  temple  of  its  protection  in  thunderous  ruin 
and  awful  destruction  upon  its  own  undefended  head. 

Labor  is  the  crown  of  true  royalty  and   the  splendid 

scepter  of  man's  highest  and   noblest  sovereignty.     As  we 

behold  you,  O  ye  hosts  of  labor,  marching  through  our 

streets  to-day,  we  hail  you  as  the  mightiest  social  and  civic 

agents  of  modern  civilization. 

Mail  and  Express. 


FREE    LABOR    THE   BASIS   OF  FREE  AMERICA. 

COL.  W.   PROSSER,   NASHVILLE,  TENN. 

We  honor  the  names  and  deeds  of  the  Fathers  of  the 
Republic  who  laid  the  foundations  of  the  temple  of  freedom 
in  the  wiids  of  America.  The  War  of  the  Rebellion  but 
concluded  the  work  which  they  commenced,  and  the  prin- 
ciples of  liberty  and  equal  rights  to  all  men  have  been  made 
the  ruling  and  cardinal  principles  of  government  through- 
out the  entire  territory  over  which  floats  the  Stars  and 
Stripes.  We  offer  up  the  increase  of  our  admiration  at  the 
shrine  of  Hampden  and  Sidney  of  England  ,  of  William 
Tell  of  Switzerland  ;  of  Koskiusko  of  Poland  ;  of  all  the 
heroes  and  champions  of  liberty,  whether  known  or  unknown, 
throughout  the  world.  Their  cause  is  ours  ;  we  participate 
with  them  in  their  shouts  of  victory,  and  we  share  with 


\ 


422 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


them  the  disasters  of  defeat.  The  cause  for  which  they 
labored  is  that  for  which  our  comrades  drew  the  sword, 
and  for  which  they  thought  it  happiness  to  die.  The  Spartan 
mother  who  received  her  son  upon  his  shield,  Leonidas, 
with  his  three  hundred  men,  and  all  the  long  line  of  friends 
of  liberty,  from  their  day  to  our  own,  were  animated  by  the 
same  spirit  and  drank  their  inspiration  from  the  same 
fountain  of  undying  patriotism.  These  are  the  men  who 
have  been  fighting  the  battles  of  human  freedom  and  con- 
stitutional liberty,  from  their  earliest  inception  down  to  the 
present  time.  Three  hundred  years  ago,  when  the  civilized 
world  lay  at  the  feet  of  royalty,  and  no  rights  were  recog- 
nized but  the  despotic  rights  of  kings,  the  burghers  of 
Holland  took  up  the  cause  afresh,  and,  conscious  of  its 
justice,  and  strong  in  their  sense  of  right,  they  organized 
resistance  to  the  oppressive  tyranny  which  then  held  in 
complete  subjection  the  most  enlightened  nations  of  the 
earth.  Under  the  blighting  influences  of  the  Dark  Ages 
civil  and  religious  liberty  had  alike  disappeared,  until  these 
men  undertook  to  restore  both  the  one  and  the  other. 
Respectfully  asking  for  a  redress  of  their  grievances  in  an 
humble  petition,  they  were  spurned  in  contempt  from  the 
presence  of  arbitrary  power  with  the  scornful  words,  **  What 
do  these  Beggars  want?  "  *' What  would  they  have?"  They 
were  the  wealthy  merchants  and  citizens  of  Amsterdam, 
whose  industry  and  genius  were  known  and  recognized 
throughout  the  world,  whose  commerce  had  enriched  their 
own  as  well  as  other  countries  of  Europe,  and  whose  opinions 
and  requests  should  have  commanded  the  respect  of  the 
most  powerful  monarch  that  ever  existed.  Knowing  their 
rights,  and  daring  to  maintain  them,  they  were  not  the  men 
tamely  to  submit  to  the  insults  of  royalty  or  the  exercise  of 
despotic  authority.  Denounced  as  beggars,  they  were 
proud  of  the  epithet,  and  inscribed  upon  their  banner  as 
their  choicest  legend,  the  words  :  '*  Long  live  the  Beggars  !  " 
For  seventy-five  years  they  waged  the  unequal  contest, 
without  the  aid  of  the  ordinary  elements  of  power  or  the 


LABOR  DAY, 


423 


assistance  of  kings.  But  relying  upon  the  justice  of  their 
cause  and  the  support  of  that  Power  which  ever  protects 
and  assists  the  cause  of  right  and  truth,  they  pressed  for- 
ward to  the  accomplishment  of  their  noble  purposes,  and 
through  victory  and  defeat,  in  sunshine  and  in  storm,  on 
the  land  and  on  the  sea,  above  the  roar  of  cannon  and  the 
rattle  of  musketry,  the  cry  still  went  up  of  "  Long  live  the 
Beggars  !  "  Above  the  smoking  ruins  of  two  thousand 
townsand  cities,  amid  the  shouts  of  the  victors  or  the  groans 
of  the  vanquished,  amid  the  heat  and  dust  of  battle,  the 
cry  of  "  Long  live  the  Beggars  !  "  went  up  to  heaven,  until 
the  Lord  of  Hosts  gave  the  victory  to  their  persevering 
arms,  and  the  foundations  of  constitutional  liberty  and 
equal  rights  to  all  men  were  laid,  broad  and  deep,  by  the 
labors,  toils,  and  sacrifices  of  more  than  three  generations 
of  freemen.  From  that  hour  until  the  present,  that  cause 
has  been  growing  and  prospering,  marching  forward  from 
one  triumphant  contest  to  another,  until  the  entire  civilized 
world  recognizes  the  principles  for  which  those  early  pioneers 
of  liberty  devoted  years  of  sorrow,  and  for  which  they  were 
willing  to  die.  The  principles  of  free  thought,  free  speech, 
free  labor,  and  a  free  press  are  everywhere  known  and 
acknowledged  as  the  avenues  to  the  greatest  good  of  the 
greatest  number  of  the  human  family.  The  genius  of  free 
labor  enters  the  hovel  of  poverty  and  says  to  its  inmates, 
"Come  up  higher."  The  genius  of  free  labor  nerved  the 
heart  and  strengthened  the  arm  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  and 
four  millions  of  people  were  lifted  out  of  the  darkness  and 
oppression  of  slavery  into  the  sunlight  of  freedom,  progress, 
and  intelligence,  and  were  invested  with  all  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  American  citizenship. 

The  genius  oi  free  labor  is  the  soul  of  all  the  triumphs 
of  industry  and  art,  of  the  sciences,  of  invention,  of  litera- 
ture, philosophy,  poetry,  and  song,  which  have  made  the 
nineteenth  century  illustrious  among  the  ages.  The  genius 
of  free  labor  has  filled  our  towns  and  cities  with  an  indus- 
trious and  enterprising  population  ;  it  has  dotted  the  earth 


424 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


with  schools  and  churches,  cobvvebbed  the  sea  and  air  with 
the  telegraph;  it  has  spanned  the  earth  with  railroads,  and 
bridged  the  ocean  with  ships.  The  genius  of  free  labor 
first  planted  the  Tree  of  Liberty,  watched  over  the  slow- 
ness of  its  growth,  nourished  it  into  life  and  vigor,  beauty 
and  strength,  with  the  blood  of  unnumbered  brave  and 
gallant  men,  comrades,  until  to-day  millions  upon  millions 
delight  in  the  shadow  of  its  branches  and  the  richness  of  its 
fruit.  The  genius  of  free  labor  is  the  soul  of  all  the  battles 
which  have  been  fought  in  modern  times.  The  War  of  the 
Revolution  gave  to  the  principles  and  the  children  of  free 
labor  a  home  on  the  chores,  and  among  the  mountains  and 
the  prairies,  of  the  New  World  ;  and  millions  of  freemen 
find  room  for  their  energies,  and  a  reward  for  their  enter- 
prises  and  industry,  in  the  beautiful  landscapes  that  stretch 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  where,  but  a  short 
time  ago,  were  only  the  wild  beasts  of  the  forest,  or  shapes 
in  human  form  more  savage  still. 

The  War  of  1812  gave  the  ocean  to  freemen,  and' the 
white  sails  of  commerce  were  wafted  into  every  sea  on  the 
habitable  globe,  bearing  to  the  breeze  the  motto  of  free 
trade  and  sailor's  rights.  The  Mexican  War  added  millions 
of  square  miles  to  the  area  of  free  labor,  and  California 
sprang  into  existence,  an  empire  of  itself,  complete  and 
perfect  in  all  her  appointments,  like  Pallas  when  she  sprang 
from  the  brain  of  Jove,  and  more  beautiful  than  Venus 
when  she  rose  from  the  sea,  the  most  glorious  illustration 
of  the  power  and  genius  of  free  labor  to  be  found  under 
the  sun.  There  men  of  every  race  and  nation,  color  and 
complexion  enjoy  the  equal  protection  and  benefit  of  law. 
The  state  has  grown  rich  and  prosperous  because  her  gov- 
ernment is  just,  and  the  commerce  of  the  world  has  been 
enriched  by  the  hidden  wealth  of  her  territory,  developed 
by  the  agency  of  free  labor.  The  War  of  the  Rebellion 
was  begun  in  the  interest  of  slavery,  but  it  terminated  in 
the  interest  of  freedom  ;  and  all  of  that  vast  territory 
extending  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  and  from  the 


LABOR  DA  V. 


425 


Lakes  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  has  been  consecrated  to 
the  use  and  service  of  freedom  forever  more.  If  we  were 
placed  upon  one  of  the  highest  mountain  tops,  and  were  to 
see  passing  before  us  in  one  grand,  solemn,  and  awful  pro- 
cession,  all  the  great,  the  wise,  and  the  good  of  every  age 
and  clime,  their  kings  and  priests,  their  poets  and  philoso- 
phers, their  heroes,  warriors,  and  statesmen,  all  those  whose 
names  are  distinguished  in  the  arts  of  peace  or  the  strategy 
of  war,  in  genius,  literature,  or  statesmanship,  and  we  were 
to  ask  them,  one  by  one,  as  they  passed  us  in  this  grand  pro- 
cession, what  is  the  greatest  boon  which  could  be  conferred 
on  mankind,  they  would  tell  us  with  one  unanimous  heart 
and  voice  and  soul,  m  tones  as  clear  as  the  echoes  of  an 
Alpine  horn,  that  constitutional  liberty  and  free  labor  were 
the  greatest  benefits  which  could  be  conferred  upon  the 
human  family.  They  would  tell  us  that  the  right  to  wor- 
ship God  according  to  the  dictates  of  our  own  consciences, 
the  right  to  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  the 
right  of  every  man  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  his  own  labor,  to 
reap  the  rewards  due  to  his  own  energy,  were  the  greatest 
blessings  that  could  be  conferred  upon  the  human  race. 


LABOR   AND   CAPITAL. 

That  labor  and  capital  are  at  variance  is  one  of  the 
conditions  we  must  accept.  What  has  brought  about  this 
state  of  affairs,  whether  the  fault  lies  with  too  grasping 
employers  or  with  discontented  employees,  is  not  the  ques- 
tion which  has  to  be  answered. 

Men  are  easily  gulled  by  the  blatant  utterances  of 
so-called  friends  of  the  workingman— men  who  have  come 
from  the  oppression  and  poverty  of  foreign  countries,  from 
hotbeds  of  sedition  to  a  land  of  freedom,  and  fail  to  appre- 
ciate their  liberty.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  good  hard 
sense  which  generally  characterizes  the  working  classes  will 
come  to  their  rescue  and  show  them  the  folly  of  the  sense- 


Ik  sftii^(«a^irfiBttrjftiMMaiini 


426 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


less  conflict  with  capital  in  which  anarchy  would  have 
them  engage.  The  present  monetary  depression  would  not 
have  been  so  seriously  felt  among  all  classes  and  conditions 
of  life  had  not  the  capitalists  been  pushed  to  the  wall  and 
many  forced  to  yield  to  the  pressure  behind  them  ;  yet 
there  are  many  who  believe  that  the  stoppage  of  industrial 
enterprises  is  entirely  due  to  a  malignant  desire  on  the  part 
of  capitalists  to  defraud  the  laborer. 

That  the  laboring  classes  have  at  times  suffered  wrongs 
at  the  hands  of  employers  is  unquestioned,  that  great  cor- 
porations may  be  soulless  and  treat  their  employees  like 
machines  may  sometimes  be  true  ;  but  does  the  remedy 
lie  in  making  and  hearing  windy  harangues  as  to  the 
inequality  of  things  ?  The  remedy  lies  in  legislation.  Mere 
speech-making  never  righted  any  wrong.  If  every  discon- 
tented workman  would  study  the  political  situation,  see 
where  the  wrongs  lie,  and  then  on  the  next  election  day  vote 
wisely  and  intelligently,  many  evils  would  disappear.  It 
would  be  much  wiser  to  do  this  than  to  keep  up  a  never- 
ceasing  clamor  against  capital,  which  supplies  their  daily 
bread,  even  though  the  loaf  be  sometimes  smaller  than  it 
ought  to  be. 

Capital  is  something  which  no  country  can  dispense  with, 
and  capitalists  are  most  generally  men  more  enterprising 
than  their  fellows,  and  who  have  a  genius  for  amassing 
fortunes,  and  a  talent  for  controlling  them.  The  district 
which  possesses  no  capitalist  is  poor  indeed.  It  is  capital 
which  sets  ten  thousand  looms  in  motion,  lights  the  fires  in 
the  mills  and  factories,  and  starts  the  idle  wheels  of  com- 
merce. Yet,  upon  the  other  hand,  capital  needs  labor  to 
carry  out  its  schemes.  The  two  must  work  together,  and 
not  one  against  the  other.  Workmen  should  be  allowed 
good  living  wages  and  capitalists  get  a  fair  profit.  Some 
day  this  golden  mean  will  be  reached,  but  it  lies  farther  in 
the  future  than  the  eye  of  man  can  now  penetrate,  and 
until  it  does  come  the  laboring  classes  can  gain  nothing  by 
any  alliance  with  anarchy  in    any   form,  no  matter  how 


LABOR  DAY. 


427 


specious  its  words  may  be.  In  the  meantime  the  divine 
rule  for  both  capitalists  and  those  who  work  with  their 
hands  is  :  "  As  ye  would  that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye 
also  to  them  likewise."  Obedience  to  this  precept  would 
soon  settle  all  difficulties  between  capital  and  labor.  Agree- 
ment  upon  any  other  basis  must  necessarily  be  temporary. 

Presbyterian  Banner. 


The  failure  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  was  caused  by  the 
movement  being  founded  on  a  series  of  fallacies  which  the 
stern  logic  of  events  has  exploded  seriatim.  The  principal 
one  was  that  the  interests  of  all  wage-earners  are  identi- 
cal, from  which  the  deduction  was  made  that  a  quarrel 
of  'longshoremen  or  porters  with  their  employers  made  it 
necessary  for  skilled  carpenters  and  engineers  to  quarrel 
with  theirs.  The  practical  application  of  this  principal  put 
the  most  competent  workmen  at  the  mercy  of  those  in  other 
trades  who  occupied  positions  requiring  the  least  brains  or 
skill.  '  Watchman. 


CAPITAL  AND  LABOR. 
MAJOR  ben:  perley  poore,  newburyport. 

The  civil  war  through  which  the  nation  so  gloriously 
passed  was,  we  are  told  by  some,  waged  for  the  preservation 
of  the  Union,  while  others  assert  that  it  was  for  the  extinc- 
tion of  human  slavery.  These  declarations  are  equally  true  ; 
yet  the  Union  would  never  have  been  endangered  had  it 
not  been  for  slavery,  neither  would  slavery  have  been  so 
cherished  had  it  not  been  so  profitable.  Political  power 
was  desired  by  the  South  ;  but  the  chief  end  of  political 
power  is  plundering  a  public  treasury  for  the  enrichment 
of  political  dependents.  Southern  capital,  so  increased  by 
the  increase  and  labor  of  slaves,  wished  to  extend  and  to 
perpetuate  it  by  the  formation  of  a  new  confederacy,  with 
slavery  as  its  corner  stone. 


428 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


And  Southern  capital  would  have  triumphed  had  it  not 
been  met  and  vanquished  by  Northern  labor.  It  was  the 
mechanics,  the  manufacturers,  the  farmers,  and  the  sea- 
faring men  of  the  North,  used  to  toil,  who  rallied  under 
the  Stars  and  Stripes,  and  defeated  the  Rebellion.  Labor 
•  confronted  capital,  and  history  shows  that  when  these  free 
elements  of  society  conflict,  labor  always  triumphs.  North- 
ern  capital  claimed  and  obtained  a  large  share  of  the 
original  commissions,  on  the  ground  that  it  furnished  the 
"sinews  of  war."  It  so  happened,  however,  that  labor 
would  win  promotion  from  the  ranks,  of  sheer  merit,  while 
the  proteges  of  the  capitalists  were  not  always  covered 
with  glory. 

I  heard  of  a  representative  Massachusetts  man,  some- 
what eminent  in  politics  and  in  letters,  who,  when  there 
was  at  one  time  during  the  War  a  call  for  more  men,  took 
his  two  grown-up  sons  to  the  office  of  the  provost  marshal 
of  his  district  (as  Abraham  went  into  the  mountains)  to 
offer  them  up  as  a  sacrifice  upon  the  national  altar.  Enter- 
ing the  room,  he  advanced  to  the  provost  marshal,  flanked 
by  his  two  sons,  and  after  having  made  a  few  patriotic 
remarks,  he  drew  his  wallet  and  paid  the  commutation  fee 
for  each.  This  was  an  ofl'ering  of  capital,  while  labor  was 
offering  its  youth,  its  manhood,  its  strength,  and  its  life- 
blood. 

Capital  furnished  funds  for  the  paymasters  and  for  the 
purchaseof  arms,  equipments,  uniforms,  and  quartermasters' 
stores.  But  capital  made  money  on  every  contract,  and 
was  so  well  remunerated  in  bonds,  that  it  is  rare  to  find  a 
man  who  was  worth  his  thousands  in  t86i  who  is  not 
worth  his  tens  or  his  hundreds  of  thousands  in  1869.  Yet 
there  are  capitalists,  thus  enriched  by  the  valor  of  labor, 
who  now  sneer  at  organizations  formed  by  mechanics  and 
by  soldiers  for  mutual  protection.  Capital  invested  in 
banks,  or  in  manufactures,  or  in  railroads  can  be  protected 
by  acts  of  incorporation,  yet  when  labor  asks  a  similar 
privilege   for   a  class   of   mechanics  who  made   excellent 


LABOR  DAY. 


429 


soldiers,  we  are  gravely  told  that  it  must  not  be.  Let  me 
not  be  understood  as  seeking  to  array  labor  against  capital, 
but  I  would  have  labor  assert  its  rights.  I  would  not 
repudiate  one  jot  of  the  bargains  which  were  made  for  the 
Treasury  with  capital,  in  order  to  obtain  funds  in  the 
nation's  hour  of  need,  but  I  claim  that  those  whose  wealth 
is  thus  virtually  exempt  from  taxation  should  not  attempt 
to  snub  the  small  tax-payer.  Neither  should  the  men  who 
carried  the  muskets  or  handled  the  great  guns  be  ignored 
for  the  sake  of  capital's /;'^/4''^'^»  ^^  whom  it  may  often  be 
said,  as  they  rotate  from  one  office  into  another. 

For  power  and  for  place,  they  hold  their  ready  dishes, 

Just  seven  principles  have  they,  five  loaves  and  two  small  fishes. 


EX-PRESIDENT   HARRISON'S   VIEWS   OF 
CAPITAL  AND  LABOR. 

There  is  a  necessity  of  a  good  preparation  for  the 
struggle  of  business  life,  and  of  taking  pride  in  one's  work 
as  an  essential  to  success.  The  latter  is  all  the  harder 
because  of  the  division  of  labor  in  these  modern  days, 
under  which,  one  man  contributes  a  small  part  of  the  labor 
for  each  thing  completed  in  "  factory  work."  This  is  one 
of  the  sacrifices  we  are  making  to  the  Moloch  of  economy. 
The  individuality  of  the  workman  rarely  appears  in  the 
product.  The  man  and  the  machine  are  not  sufficiently 
differentiated.  Only  the  designer  and  the  man  who  assem- 
bles the  parts  have  the  pride  of  a  workman  in  a  perfected 

work. 

The  worker  should  have  the  small  chance  that  remains 
to  distinguish  himself,  since  "  when  you  eliminate  ambition 
from  the  human  soul  you  shut  out  the  visions  which  entice 
men  upward."  There  is  a  mutual  dependence  of  capital 
and  labor.  It  is  a  sad  and  dangerous  fact  that  these  are 
organized  to  fight  each  other,  that  the  laboring  man  is  too 
often  taught  to  regard  his  employer  as  an  enemy,  and  that 


430 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   0CCAS10A\ 


the  greedy  or  vexed  employer  is  sometimes  too  ready  to 
treat  a  workman  with  a  grievance  as  he  would  treat  a 
jolting  unbalanced  machine  :  throw  it  into  the  scrap  pile. 
Like  the  armed  peace  now  maintained  in  Europe  this  situa- 
tion is  costly  and  dangerous. 

When  the  Golden  Rule  becomes  the  law  of  human  life  all 
this  will  be  changed.  The  employer  will  ask  how  much 
he  can  pay  the  worker,  not  how  little.  The  workman  will 
ask  how  much  he  can  do,  not  how  little.  We  may  not  be 
able  to  reach  this  condition,  but  the  war  can  be  restricted 
and  its  evils  ameliorated.  Our  people  are  at  heart  of  a 
most  friendly  disposition  toward  workingmen  and  women. 
We  have  our  Gradgrinds,  snobs,  and  purse-proud  sons  of 
artisan  fathers,  our  dudes  and  butterflies,  but  the  mass  of 
the  rich,  as  well  as  those  of  only  moderate  means,  have  a 
genuine  hearty  sympathy  and  fellowship  with  the  honest 
sons  of  toil.  The  chief  trouble  is  not  want  of  heart,  but  to 
hold  busy  men  long  enough  to  hear  the  tale  of  wrong,  and 
to  discriminate  it  from  false  appeals  for  aid.  On  the  other 
hand,  American  workmen  are,  as  a  body,  intelligent,  spirited, 
and  patriotic.  They  will  not  bear  patronizing,  but  they  are 
hungry  for  fraternity.  The  lodges  and  chapters,  greatly 
outnumbering  the  churches,  express  this  longing.  The 
working  people,  if  we  give  the  term  its  proper  scope,  are 
the  civil  bulk  of  the  nation.  Everything — government, 
social  order,  production,  commerce — is  borne  up  and  along 
by  them.  They  formed  the  great  bulk  of  the  Union  army. 
Why  cannot  they  be  called  comrades  now,  as  during  the 
War  ?  Why  cannot  the  U)uch  of  elbows  and  the  cadenced 
step  be  had  in  civil  life  with  all  who  love  our  free  civil 
institutions  ?  They  are  needed.  They  give  strength  and 
security  as  well  as  fellowship. 

I  would  also  emphasize  the  right  of  the  worker  to  some- 
thing more  than  mere  wages,  to  protection  from  injury  in 
his  employment,  and  to  the  recognition  which  helps  to 
make  life  pleasant.  Society  has  awakened  to  its  interest 
in  this   matter,  to   the  view  that   there  is  a  mutuality  of 


LABOR  DAY. 


431 


interest,  that  if  it  be  honorable  to  employ  a  man  to  do  a 
thing  it  is  honorable  to  do  it.  Something  has  been  done 
by  legislation  to  protect  the  workman,  and  to  define  the 
limits  of  trade  combinations  and  trusts.  Restraint  of  these 
corporations  is  an  obvious  and  urgent  duty  to  the  interests 
of  the  working  as  well  as  to  all  other  classes  of  citizens. 

Chicago  Tribune. 


LAND  AND  LABOR. 


REV.   CHAS.   LEACH,    D.  D. 
The  earth  hath  he  given  to  the  children  of  men.     Psalm  cxv.  16. 

The  solution  of  the  labor  problem  is  intimately  associated 
with  the  settlement  of  the  land  question.  Labor  cannot  be 
properly  remunerated,  nor  poverty  banished,  nor  can  the 
stored  up  labor  we  call  capital  be  sufficiently  and  satisfac- 
torily employed  so  long  as  we  allow  a  handful  of  men  to 
own  the  broad  acres  of  England.  He  who  holds  the  land 
holds  the  people's  life.  Permit  a  few  men  to  have  the  land 
and  give  them  the  power  to  exclude  the  people  from  it  and 
you  at  once  make  the  whole  people  their  slaves. 

I  want  to  impress  this  important  fact  upon  every  reader. 
They  are,  for  the  most  part,  Christian  people,  and  with  the 
followers  of  Christ  rests  the  power  to  settle  this,  as  also  to 
settle  so  many  other  grave  and  important  matters.  The 
land  is  for  the  people's  life.  Without  it  we  cannot  be. 
We  can  get  along  without  private  landowners,  without 
tax-gatherers,  without  parsons,  and,  perhaps,  even  with- 
out Parliament  and  its  interminable  Home  Rule  squab- 
bles, and  we  might  even  live  without  publicans,  but 
we  must  have  land.  From  it  we  get  all  we  have.  It 
is  the  nursing  mother,  from  whose  bosom  we  drew  the 
springs  of  our  existence.  The  land  gives  us  all  things,  and 
withholds  nothing  from  honest  labor  which  is  blessed  with 
the  sunshine  of  God  and  the  showers  of  the  skies.     Look  at 


432 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION. 


LABOR  DAY. 


433 


^i 


the  matter  a  little  in  detail.  The  pen  with  which  I  write 
this  article  comes  from  the  earth,  and  so  does  the  paper  on 
which  I  write.  The  desk  at  which  I  sit  is  from  the  timber 
of  some  tree  which  grew  in  the  distant  forest  yonder,  hence, 
it,  too,  is  from  the  land.  As  you  sit  in  your  armchair,  or 
recline  on  your  couch  to  read  this  article,  look  around  you 
in  your  own  room,  and  tell  me  what  there  is  there  which 
the  bountiful  earth  did  not  supply.  Your  beautiful  side- 
board was  once  growing  in  trees  of  the  wood.  The  orna- 
ments which  adorn  it,  be  they  bronze,  earthenware,  porce- 
lain, marble,  silver,  or  gold,  all  were  dug  out  of  the  earth. 
The  clothing  you  wear  all  comes  from  the  land.  If  you 
are  wrapped  in  silk,  covered  with  woolen,  or  in  cooler  cot- 
ton, you  can  trace  it  all  back  to  the  land.  The  cotton 
plant,  the  woolly-backed  sheep,  or  the  silkworm  could  not 
be  except  for  the  land.  The  food  you  eat,  the  knives  and 
forks  and  spoons  with  which  you  eat  it,  all  come  from  the 
earth.  The  house  in  which  you  live,  whether  it  be  built 
with  stone,  timber,  iron,  canvas,  or  mud,  it  comes  from  the 
land.  And  when  you  go  to  bed  to-night  you  will  rest  on 
that  which  comes  from  the  earth.  Your  couch  may  be 
feathers,  straw,  chaff,  wire,  or  a  plank.  It  makes  no  dif- 
ference, you  will  trace  it  back  to  old  mother  earth.  If  the 
Old  Book  be  true,  we  ourselves  have  sprung  from  the  land, 
and  when  we  are  dead  then  our  bodies  will  probably  go 
back  to  the  earth,  the  dust  from  which  they  came.  The 
late  John  Bright  once  said  :  "  The  land  of  a  country  is 
God's  gift  to  its  people."  He  never  spoke  truer  words. 
He  only  put  into  English,  slightly  altered,  what  God  long 
ago  put  into  Hebrew  :  **  The  earth  hath  he  given  to  the 
children  of  men." 

Human  labor  seems  to  be  as  necessary  for  the  well-being 
of  a  people  as  the  God-given  land.  Without  the  land 
labor  could  not  be  ;  without  human  labor  the  land  would 
be  useless,  and  we  must  all  speedily  perish.  Hence  it  is 
worthy  of  notice  that  man  is  a  co-worker  with  God  in  the  all- 
important  task  of  keeping  alive  the  population  of  the  globe. 


God  gives  the  land  the  sunshine  and  the  shower,  but  man 
must  supply  the  labor  which  shall  make  the  earth  yield  her 
increase,  and  smile  with  plants.  It  is  for  man  "  to  tickle 
the  earth  with  a  spade  and  make  it  laugh  into  golden  har- 
vests." If  the  desert  is  to  blossom  as  a  rose,  the  wilder- 
ness and  the  solitary  place  be  glad,  the  orchard  and  the 
garden  give  forth  their  golden  supplies,  the  fields  be  full  of 
ripe  corn,  the  pastures  drop  fatness,  the  trees  of  the  field 
clap  their  hands  for  very  joy,  then  it  is  absolutely  necessary 
that  human  labor  must  be  put  forth,  for  without  it  God 
does  not  complete  his  work.  Hence  the  importance  of  giv- 
ing the  fullest  possible  access  to  the  land  by  the  labor  with- 
out which  the  land  will  not  fully  benefit  men. 

All  proper  human  labor  is  an  offering  to  God.  All 
work  for  the  real  good  of  man  glorifies  God.  Hence  it  is 
religious,  because  God  appointed  service.  If  the  premises 
laid  down  in  this  paper  be  sound,  this  conclusion  inevitably 
follows.  And  this  ought  to  be  of  some  comfort  to  every 
one  of  us  in  the  great  army  of  useful  labor.  If  I  realize 
that  service  of  man  is  service  of  God,  that  honest  toil  for 
the  good  of  my  fellows  glorifies  my  Father  in  heaven,  then 
the  ordinary  duties  of  life  assume  a  new  importance.  Let 
me  feel  that  my  daily  service  is  necessary  to  complete  God's 
will,  and  that  service  will  become  to  me  glorious  as  a 
sacrificial  offering,  while  to  God  it  comes  up  as  fragrant 
incense,  and  sweet  as  the  song  of  a  saint.  This  thought 
will  bear  and  deserve  expansion.  Suppose  that  my  lot  in 
life  is  to  cut  timber  in  a  forest,  to  dig  coal  in  a  pit,  to  rear 
sheep  in  Australia,  to  spin  cotton  in  a  factory,  to  smelt  ore 
in  a  furnace,  to  work  on  a  farm,  to  be  a  domestic  servant, 
or  toil  as  a  mother  of  a  family — in  any  or  in  all  of  these  I 
may  as  much  glorify  God  and  serve  his  will  as  the  parson  in 
the  pulpit,  the  statesman  in  the  hall  of  legislature,  or  the 
monarch  on  the  throne.  When  cutting  timber  in  the  forest, 
I  know  that  this  timber  is  necessary  to  make  chairs,  and 
tables,  and  houses  for  the  comfort  of  man.  If  I  go  down 
into  the  pit  to  dig  coal  (rom  the  depths  in  which  God  has 


434 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


formed  it,  I  may  feel  that  I  am  serving  the  will  of  God. 
Man  rnust  have  fire  with  which  to  make  necessary  articles, 
to  keep  his  body  warm,  to  cook  his  food,  and  many  purposes 
besides.  Without  these  the  body  would  die.  And  as  it 
is  not  God's  will  that  the  body  should  die  for  want  of  these 
things,  then  clearly  God  uses  me  as  a  co-worker  with  him- 
self. The  same  with  the  man  who  rears  sheep  to  produce 
wool  for  man's  clothing.  When  the  farmer  digs  the  land 
and  sows  the  seed  he  knows  that  he  is  helping  God  to  pro- 
duce food  for  man,  and  it  is  hard  to  see  how  any  man  could 
more  fully  glorify  God. 

A  domestic  servant  once  came  to  see  me  to  tell  how 
much  she  would  like  to  do  something  for  God.  Many 
others  have  come  to  me  in  a  similar  way,  but  the  case  of  the 
servant  will  be  sufficient  here  and  now.  I  heard  all  she  had 
to  say,  and  I  believed  that  she  was  a  good  Christian.  I 
pointed  out  to  her  that  in  keeping  the  house  clean  and 
sweet  to  make  it  healthy,  and  in  cooking  the  family's  food 
well,  so  that  it  should  not  injure  the  health  of  the  family, 
she  would  be  rendering  high  service  to  God. 

If  all  this  reasoning  be  sound — and  the  readers  of  this 
will  speedily  reject  it  if  it  be  not — it  follows  that  in  all  ser- 
vice there  is  profit.  And  from  this  we  learn  something  of 
the  great  importance  of  land  and  labor:  These  two  are  the 
sources  of  all  wealth,  all  well-being,  and  all  comfort.  It  is 
the  will  of  God  that  these  two  should  be  joined  so  as 
to  make  this  world  a  paradise  of  plenty  ;  the  laws  of  man 
have  parted  them  and  made  the  world  barren  and  filled  it 
with  poverty  and  want. 

Christian  Commonwealth^  London^  -Eng. 


LABOR   THE    SOURCE    OF    WEALTH. 

AVealth  in  its  mass,  and  still  more  in  its  tenure  and  dif- 
fusion, is  a  measure  of  the  condition  of  a  people  which 
touches  both  its  energy  and  morality.  Wealth  has  no 
source  but  labor.     "  Life   has  given  nothing  valuable  to 


LABOR  DAY. 


435 


man  without  great  labor."     This  is  as  true  now  as  when 
Horace  wrote  it.     The  prodigious  growth  of  wealth  in  this 
country  is  not  only,  therefore,  a  signal  mark  of  prosperity, 
but  proves  industry,  persistency,  thrift,  as  the  habits  of  the 
people.     Accumulation  of  wealth,  too,  requires  and  imparts 
security,  as  well  as  unfettered  activity  ;  and  thus  it  is  a  fair 
criterion  of  sobriety  and  justice  in  a  people,  certainly,  when 
the  laws  and  their  execution  rest  wholly  in  their  hands.     A 
careless  observation  of  the  crimes  and  frauds  which  attack 
prosperity,  in  the  actual  condition  of  our  society,  and  the 
imperfection  of  our  means  for  their  prevention  and  redress, 
leads  sometimes  to  an  unfavorable  comparison  between  the 
present  and  the  past,  in  this  country,  as  respects  the  probity 
of  the  people.     No  doubt  covetousness  has  not  ceased  in 
the  world,  and  thieves  still  break  through  and  steal.     But 
the  better  test  upon  this  point  is  the  vast  profusion  of  our 
wealth  and  the  infinite  trust  shown  by  the  manner  in  which 
it  is  invested.     It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  in  our  times, 
and  conspicuously  in  our  country,  a  large  share  of  every 
man's  property  is  in  other  men's  keeping  and  management, 
unwatched  and  beyond  personal  control.     This  confidence 
of  man  in  man  is  ever  increasing,  measured  by  our  conduct, 
and  refutes  these  disparagements  of  the  general  morality. 
Knowledge,  intellectual  activity,  the  mastery  of  nature, 
the  provision  and  extension  of  the  means  and  opportunities 
of  this  education,  are  the  cherished  institutions  of  the  coun- 
try.    Learning,   literature,  science,  art,  are  cultivated,   in 
their  widest  range  and  highest  reach,  by  a  larger  and  larger 
number  of  our  people,  not,  to  their  praise  be  it  said,  as  a 
perso4ial  distinction  or  a  selfish  possession,  but  mainly  as 
a  generous  leaven,  to  quicken  and  expand  the  healthful 
fermentation  of    the  general  mind  and    lift   the  level  of 
popular  instruction.     So  far  from  breeding  a  distempered 
spirit  in  the  people,  this  becomes  the  main  prop  of  authority, 
the  great  instinct  of  obedience.     '*  It  is  by  education,"  says 
Aristotle,  ''  I  have  learned  to  do  by  choice  what  other  men 
do  by  constraint  of  fear."  wm.  m.  evarts. 


43^ 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASIOiV. 


THE    LABOR   QUESTION. 


LABOR  DAY, 


437 


T.   DEWITT  TALMAGE,   D.   D. 

That  labor  has  grievances  I  will  show  you  plainly. 
That  capital  has  had  outrages  committed  upon  it  I  will 
make  evident  beyond  dispute.  But  there  are  right  and 
wrong  ways  of  attempting  a  reformation. 

When  I  say  there  will  be  no  return  to  social  chaos  I  do 
not  underrate  the  awful  peril  of  these  times.  We  must 
admit  that  the  tendency  is  toward  revolution.  Great 
throngs  gather  at  some  points  of  disturbance  in  almost  all 
our  cities.  Railway  trains  hurled  over  the  rocks.  Work- 
men beaten  to  death  within  sight  of  their  wives  and  chil- 
dren. Factories  assailed  by  mobs.  The  faithful  police  of 
our  cities  exhausted  by  vigilance  night  and  day.  In  some 
cases  the  military  called  out.  The  whole  country  asking 
the  question,  *'  What  next? "  A  part  of  Belgium  one  great 
riot.  Germany  and  Austria  keeping  their  workmen  quiet 
only  by  standing  armies  so  vast  that  they  are  eating  out 
the  life  of  those  nations.  The  only  reason  that  Ireland  is 
in  peace  is  because  she  is  hoping  for  Home  Rule  and  the 
triumph  of  Gladstonism.  The  labor  quarrel  is  hemispheric, 
aye,  a  world-wide  quarrel,  and  the  whole  tendency  is  toward 
anarchv. 

But  one  way  in  which  we  may  avoid  anarchy  is  by 
letting  the  people  know  what  anarchy  is.  We  must  have 
the  wreck  pointed  out  in  order  to  steer  clear  of  it.  Anarchy 
is  abolition  of  right  of  property.  It  makes  your  store  and 
your  house  and  your  money  and  your  family  mine,  and 
mine  yours.  It  is  wholesale  robbery.  It  is  every  man's 
hand  against  every  other  man.  It  is  arson  and  murder 
and  rapine  and  lust  and  death  triumphant.  It  means 
no  law,  no  church,  no  defense,  no  rights,  no  happiness, 
no  God.  It  means  /tell  let  loose  on  earth,  and  society  a 
combination  of  devils  incarnate.  It  means  extermination 
of    everything  good   and   the    coronation   of    everything 


infamous.  Do  you  want  it  ?  Will  you  have  it  ?  Before 
you  let  it  get  a  good  foothold  in  America  take  a  good  look 
at  the  dragon. 

Look  at  Paris,  where  for  a  few  days  it  held  sway,  the 
Sfutters  red  with  blood  and  the  walk  down  the  street  a 
stepping  between  corpses,  the  Archbishop  shot  as  he  tries 
to  quell  the  mob,  and  every  man  and  woman  armed  with 
knife  or  pistol  or  bludgeon.  Let  this  country  take  one 
good,  clear,  scrutinizing  look  at  anarchy  before  it  is 
admitted,  and  it  will  never  be  allowed  to  set  up  its  reign  in 
our  borders.  No  ;  there  is  too  much  good  sense  dominant 
in  this  country  to  permit  anarchy.  All  good  people  will, 
together  with  the  officers  of  civil  government,  cry  "  Peace  !  " 
and  it  will  be  re-established.  Meanwhile,  my  brotherly 
counsel  is  to  three  classes  of  laborers. 

First,  to  those  who  are  at  work.  Stick  to  it.  Do  not 
amid  the  excitement  of  these  times  drop  your  employment, 
hoping  that  something  better  will  turn  up.  He  who  gives 
up  work  now,  whether  he  be  railroad  man,  mechanic, 
farmer,  clerk,  or  any  other  kind  of  employee,  will  probably 
give  it  up  for  starvation.  You  may  not  like  the  line  of 
steamers  that  you  are  sailing  in,  but  do  not  jump  overboard 
in  the  middle  of  the  Atlantic.  Be  a  little  earlier  than  usual 
at  your  post  of  work  while  this  turmoil  lasts,  and  attend  to 
your  occupation  with  a  little  more  assiduity  than  has  ever 
characterized  you. 

My  brotherly  counsel,  in  the  second  place,  is  to  those 
who  have  resigned  work.  It  is  best  for  you  and  best  for 
everybody  to  go  back  immediately.  Do  not  wait  to  see 
what  others  do.  Get  on  board  the  train  of  national  pros- 
perity before  it  starts  again,  for  start  it  will,  start  soon,  and 
start  mightily.  Last  year  in  the  city  of  New  York  there 
were  45  general  strikes  and  177  shop  strikes.  Successful 
strikes,  97  ;  strikes  lost,  34  ;  strikes  pending  at  the  time 
the  statistics  were  made,  59  ;  strikes  compromised,  32. 
Would  you  like  me  to  tell  you  who  will  make  the  most 
out  the  present  almost  universal  strike  ?     I  can  and  will. 


/    » 


438 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


Those  will  make  the  most  out  of  it  who  go  fust  to 
work. 

My  third  word  of  brotherly  advice  is  to  the  nearly  two 
million  people  who  could  not  get  work  before  this  trouble 
began,  and  who  have  themselves  and  their  families  to  sup- 
port, to  go  now  and  take  the  vacated  places.  Go  in  and 
take  those  places  a  million  and  a  half  strong.  Green  hands 
you  may  be  now,  but  you  will  not  be  green  hands  long. 
My  sentiment  Is  full  liberty  for  all  who  want  to  strike  to  do 
so,  and  full  liberty  for  all  who  want  to  take  the  vacated 
places.  Other  industries  will  open  for  those  who  are  now 
taking  a  vacation,  for  we  have  only  opened  the  outside 
door  of  this  continent,  and  there  is  room  in  this  country  for 
eight  hundred  million  people,  and  for  each  one  of  them  a 
home  and  a  livelihood  and  a  God  ! 

So,  however  others  may  feel  about  this  excitement  as 
wide  as  the  continent,  I  am  not  scared  a  bit.  The  storm 
will  hush.  Christ  will  put  his  foot  upon  it  as  upon  agitated 
Galilee.  As  at  the  beginning,  chaos  will  give  place  to 
order  as  the  Spirit  of  God  moves  upon  the  waters.  But 
hear  it,  workingmen  of  America  !  Your  first  step  toward 
light  and  betterment  of  condition  will  be  an  assertion  of 
your  individual  independence  from  the  dictation  of  your 
fellow- workmen.  You  are  a  free  man,  and  let  no  organiza- 
tion come  between  you  and  your  best  interests.  Do  not  let 
any  man,  or  any  body  of  men,  tell  you  where  you  shall 
work,  or  where  you  shall  not  work,  when  you  shall  work,  or 
when  you  shall  not  work.  If  a  man  wants  to  belong  to  a 
labor  organization,  let  him  belong.  If  he  does  not  want  to 
belong  to  a  labor  organization,  let  him  have  perfect  liberty 
to  stay  out.  You  own  yourself.  Let  no  man  put  a  manacle 
on  your  hand,  or  foot,  or  head,  or  heart. 

I  belong  to  a  ministerial  association  that  meets  once  a 
week.  I  love  all  the  members  very  much.  We  may  help 
each  other  in  a  hundred  ways,  but  when  that  association 
shall  tell  me  to  quit  my  work  and  go  somewhere  else,  that 
I  must  stop  right  away  because  a  brother  minister  has  been 


LABOR  DA  V. 


439 


badly  treated  down  in  Texas,  I  will  say  to  that  ministerial 
association,  "  Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan  !  "  Furthermore, 
I  have  a  right  to  resign  my  pastorate  of  this  church  and 
say  to  the  people,  **  I  decline  to  work  for  you  any  longer. 
I  am  going.  Good-by."  But  I  have  no  right,  after  I  have 
quit  this  pulpit,  to  linger  around  the  doors  on  Sunday  morn- 
ings and  evenings  with  a  shotgun  to  intimidate  or  hinder 
the  minister  who  comes  to  take  my  place.  I  may  quit  my 
place  and  continue  to  be  a  gentleman,  but  when  I  interfere 
with  my  successor  in  this  pulpit  I  become  a  criminal,  and 
deserve  nothing  better  than  soup  in  a  tin  bowl  in  Sing 
Sing  Penitentiary.  Your  first  duty,  O  laboring  man,  is 
to  your  family  !  Let  no  one  but  Almighty  God  dictate  to 
you  how  you  shall  support  them.  Work  when  you  please, 
where  you  please,  at  what  you  please,  and  allow  no  one  for 
a  hundred  millionth  part  of  a  second  to  interfere  with  your 
right.  When  we  emerge  from  the  present  unhappiness,  as 
we  soon  will,  we  shall  find  many  tyrannies  broken,  and 
labor  and  capital  will  march  shoulder  to  shoulder. 

This  day  I  declare  the  mutual  dependence  of  labor  and 
capital.  An  old  tentmaker  put  it  just  right — I  mean  Paul — 
when  he  declared  :  *'  The  eye  cannot  say  to  the  hand,  I 
have  no  need  of  thee."  You  have  examined  some  elaborate 
machinery — a  thousand  wheels,  a  thousand  bands,  a  thou- 
sand levers,  a  thousand  pulleys,  but  all  controlled  by  one 
great  waterwheel,  all  the  parts  adjoined  so  that  if  you 
jarred  one  part  you  jarred  all  the  parts.  Well,  society  is  a 
great  piece  of  mechanism,  a  thousand  wheels,  a  thousand 
pulleys,  a  thousand  levers,  but  all  controlled  by  one  great 
and  ever-revolving  force — the  wheel  of  God's  providence. 
The  professions  interdependent,  all  the  trades  inter- 
dependent, capital  and  labor  interdependent,  so  that  the 
man  who  lives  in  a  mansion  on  the  hill  and  the  man  who 
breaks  cobblestones  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  affect  each 
other's  misfortune  or  prosperity.  Dives  cannot  kick 
Lazarus  without  hurting  his  own  foot.  They  who  throw 
Shadrach  into  the  furnace  get  their  own  faces  scorched  and 


440 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


blackened.  No  such  thing  as  independence.  Smite  society 
at  any  one  point  and  you  smite  the  entire  community. 

Relief  will  come  to  the  working  classes  of  this  country 
through  a  better  understanding  between  capital  and  labor. 
Before  this  contest  goes  much  further  it  will  be  found  that 
their  interests  are  identical  ;  what  helps  one  helps  both  ; 
what  injures  one  injures  both.  Until  the  crack  of  doom 
there  will  be  no  relief  for  the  working  classes  until  there  is 
a  better  understanding  between  labor  and  capital  and  this 
war  ends.  Every  speech  that  capital  makes  against  labor 
is  an  adjournment  of  our  national  prosperity.  The  capital- 
ists  of  the  country,  so  far  as  I  know  them,  are  successful 
laborers.  If  the  capitalists  in  this  house  to-day  would  draw 
their  gloves,  you  would  see  the  broken  fingernail,  the  scar  of 
an  old  blister,  here  and  there  a  stiffened  finger  joint.  The 
great  publishers  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  so  far  as 
I  know  them,  were  bookbinders  or  printers  on  small  pay. 
The  carriage  manufacturers  of  the  country  used  to  sand- 
paper the  wagon  bodies  in  the  wheelwright's  shop. 

Peter  Cooper  was  a  glue  maker.  No  one  begrudged 
him  his  millions  of  dollars,  for  he  built  Cooper  Institute 
and  swung  open  its  doors  for  every  poor  man's  son,  and 
said  to  the  day  laborer  :  "  Send  your  boy  up  to  my  Institute 
if  you  want  him  to  have  a  splendid  education."  And  a 
young  man  of  this  church  was  the  other  day  walking  in 
Greenwood  Cemetery,  and  he  saw  two  young  men  putting 
flowers  on  the  grave  of  Peter  Cooper.  My  friend  supposed 
the  young  men  were  relatives  of  Peter  Cooper  and  deco- 
rated his  grave  for  that  reason.  **  No,"  they  said,  "  we  put 
these  flowers  on  his  grave  because  it  was  through  him  we 
got  our  education."  Abraham  Van  Nest  was  a  harness 
maker  in  New  York.  Through  economy  and  industry  and 
skill  he  got  a  great  fortune.  He  gave  away  to  help  others 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars.  I  shall  never  forget  the 
scene  when  I,  a  green  country  lad,  stopped  at  his  house, 
and  after  passing  the  evening  with  him,  he  came  to  the 
door  and  came  outside  and  said  :  *'  Here,  De  Witt,  is  fifty 


LABOR  DAY. 


441 


dollars  to  get  books  with.  Don't  say  anything  about  it." 
And  I  never  did  till  the  good  old  man  was  gone.  Henry 
Clay  was  *'  the  Mill  boy  of  the  Slashes."  Hugh  Miller, 
a  stone  mason  ;  Columbus,  a  weaver  ;  Hal  ley,  a  soap- 
boiler ;  Arkwright,  a  barber ;  the  learned  Bloomfield,  a 
shoemaker ;  Hogarth,  an  engraver  of  pewter  plate,  and 
Horace  Greeley  started  life  in  New  York  with  ten  dollars 
and  seventy-five  cents  in  his  pocket. 

The  distance  between  capital  and  labor  is  not  a  great 
gulf  over  which  is  swung  a  Niagara  suspension  bridge  ; 
it  is  only  a  step,  and  the  laborers  here  will  cross  over  and 
become  capitalists  and  the  capitalists  will  cross  over  and 
become  laborers.  Would  to  God  they  would  shake  hands 
while  they  are  crossing,  these  from  one  side,  and  those 
from  the  other  side. 

The  combatants  in  this  great  war  between  capital  and 
labor  are  chiefly,  on  the  one  side,  men  of  fortune  who 
have  never  been  obliged  to  toil,  and  who  despise  labor, 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  men  who  could  get  labor,  but  will 
not  have  it,  will  not  stick  to  it.  It  is  the  hand  cursing  the 
eye,  or  the  eye  cursing  the  hand.  I  want  it  understood 
that  the  laborers  are  the  highest  style  of  capitalists.  Where 
is  their  investment  ?  In  the  bank  ?  No.  In  railroad  stock  ? 
No.  Their  muscles,  their  nerves,  their  bones,  their  mechani- 
cal skill,  their  physical  health,  are  the  highest  kind  of 
capital.  The  man  who  has  two  feet,  and  two  ears,  and 
two  eyes,  and  ten  fingers,  owns  a  machinery  that  puts  into 
nothingness  Corliss'  engine  and  all  the  railroad  rolling 
stock,  and  all  the  carpet  and  screw  and  cotton  factories  on 
the  planet.  I  wave  the  flag  of  truce  this  morning  between 
these  contestants.  I  demand  a  cessation  of  hostilities 
between  labor  and  capital.  What  is  good  for  one  is  good 
for  both.     What  is  bad  for  one  is  bad  for  both. 

Again,  relief  will  come  to  the  working  classes  of  this 
country  through  a  co-operative  association.  I  am  not  now 
referring  to  trades  unions.  We  may  hereafter  discuss  that 
question.     But   I    refer  to   that   plan   by   which   laborers 


442 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION, 


LABOR  DAY. 


443 


become  their  own  capitalists,  taking  their  surpluses  and 
putting  them  together  and  carrying  on  great  enterprises. 
In  England  and  Wales  there  are  seven  hundred  and  sixty- 
five  co-operative  associations,  with  three  hundred  thousand 
members,  with  a  capital  of  fourteen  million  of  dollars, 
doing  business  in  one  year  to  the  amount  of  fifty-seven 
million  dollars.  In  Troy,  N.  Y.,  there  was  a  co-operative 
iron  foundry  association.  It  worked  well  long  enough  to 
give  an  idea  of  what  could  be  accomplished  when  the 
experiment  is  fully  developed. 

You  say  that  there  have  been  great  failures  in  that 
direction.  I  admit  it.  Every  great  movement  at  the  start 
is  a  failure.  The  application  of  steam  power  a  failure, 
electro-telegraphy  a  failure,  railroading  a  failure,  but  after 
a  while  the  world's  chief  successes.  I  hear  some  say, 
"  Why,  it  is  absurd  to  talk  of  a  surplus  to  be  put  into  this 
co-operative  association,  when  men  can  hardly  get  enough 
to  eat  and  wear  and  take  care  of  their  families."  I  reply, 
Put  into  my  hand  the  money  spent  in  the  last  five  years  in 
this  country  by  the  laboring  classes  for  rum  and  tobacco, 
and  I  will  start  a  co-operative  institution  of  monetary 
power  that  will  surpass  any  financial  institution  in  the 
United  States. 

Again,  I  remark,  that  relief  will  come  to  the  working 
classes  through  more  thorough  discovery  on  the  part  of 
employers  that  it  is  best  for  them  to  let  their  employees 
know  just  how  matters  stand.  The  most  of  the  capitalists 
of  to-day  are  making  less  than  six  per  cent.,  less  than  five 
per  cent.,  less  than  four  per  cent.,  on  their  investments. 
Here  and  there  is  an  anaconda  swallowing  down  every- 
thing, but  such  are  the  exceptions.  It  is  often  the  case  that 
employees  blame  their  employer  because  they  suppose  he  is 
getting  along  grandly,  when  he  is  oppressed  to  the  last 
point  of  oppression.  I  knew  a  manufacturer  who  employed 
more  than  a  thousand  hands.  I  said  to  him  :  "  Do  you 
ever  have  any  trouble  with  your  workmen  ?  Do  you  have 
any  strikes  ?  "     **  No,"  he  said.     "  What !    in  this  time  of 


angry  discussion  between  capital  and  labor,  no  trouble  ? " 
**  None  at  all— none."  I  said  :  **  How  is  that  ?  "  "  Well," 
he  said  :  "  I  have  a  way  of  my  own.  Every  little  while  I 
call  my  employees  together  and  I  say,  *  Now,  boys,  I  want 
to  show  you  how  matters  stand.  What  you  turned  out  this 
year  brought  so  much.  You  see  it  isn't  as  much  as  we  got 
last  year.  I  can't  afford  to  pay  you  as  much  as  I  did.  Now, 
you  know  I  put  all  my  means  in  this  business.  What  do 
you  think  ought  to  be  my  percentage,  and  what  wages 
ought  I  to  pay  you  ?  Come,  let  us  settle  this.*  And," 
said  that  manufacturer,  "we  are  always  unanimous.  When 
we  suffer,  we  all  suffer  together.  When  we  advance,  we 
advance  together,  and  my  men  would  die  for  me."  But 
when  a  man  goes  among  his  employees  with  a  supercilious 
air,  and  drives  up  to  his  factory  as  though  he  were  the 
autocrat  of  the  universe,  with  the  sun  and  the  moon  in  his 
vest  pockets,  moving  amid  the  wheels  of  the  factory,  chiefly 
anxious  lest  a  greased  or  smirched  hand  should  touch  his 
immaculate  broadcloth,  he  will  see  at  the  end  he  has  made 
an  awful  mistake.  I  think  that  employers  will  find  out 
after  a  while  that  it  is  to  their  interest,  as  far  as  possible,  to 
explain  matters  to  their  employees.  You  be  frank  with 
them  and  they  will  be  frank  with  you. 

Again,  I  remark,  relief  will  come  to  the  laboring  classes 
through  the  religious  rectification  of  the  country.  La- 
bor is  appreciated  and  rewarded  just  in  proportion  as  a 
country  is  Christianized.  Show  me  a  community  that  is 
thoroughly  infidel,  and  1  will  show  you  a  community  where 
wages  are  small.  Show  me  a  community  that  is  thoroughly 
Christianized,  and  I  will  show  you  a  community  where 
wages  are  comparatively  large.  How  do  I  account  for  it  ? 
The  philosophy  is  easy.  Our  religion  is  a  democratic 
religion.  It  makes  the  owner  of  the  mill  understand  he  is 
a  brother  to  all  the  operatives  in  that  mill.  Born  of  the 
same  heavenly  Father,  to  lie  down  in  the  same  dust,  to  be 
saved  by  the  same  supreme  mercy.  No  putting  on  of  airs 
in  the  sepulcher  or  in  the  judgment. 


444 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION: 


My  friends,  you  need  to  saturate  our  populations  with 
the  religion  of  Christ,  and  wages  will  be  larger,  employers 
will  be  more  considerate,  all  the  tides  of  thrift  will  set  in. 
I  have  the  highest  authority  for  saying  that  godliness  is 
profitable  for  the  life  that  now  is.  It  pays  for  the  employer. 
It  pays  for  the  employee.  The  hard  hand  of  the  wheel 
and  the  soft  hand  of  the  counting  room  will  clasp  each 
other  yet.  They  will  clasp  each  other  in  congratulation. 
They  will  clasp  each  other  on  the  glorious  morning  of  the 
millennium.  The  hard  hand  will  say,  *'  I  plowed  the 
desert  into  a  garden  "  ;  the  soft  hand  will  reply,  **  I  fur- 
nished the  seed."  The  one  hand  will  say,  "  I  thrashed  the 
mountains  "  ;  the  other  hand  will  say,  *'  I  paid  for  the  flail." 
The  one  hand  will  say,  "  I  hammered  the  spear  into  a 
pruning-hook  "  ;  and  the  other  hand  will  answer,  '*  I  signed 
the  treaty  of  peace  that  made  that  possible."  Then  capital 
and  labor  will  lie  down  together,  and  the  lion  and  the 
lamb,  and  the  leopard  and  the  kid,  and  there  will  be  noth- 
ing to  hurt  or  to  destroy  in  all  God's  holy  mount,  for  the 
mouth  of  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it. 


COMBINATION    OF    CAPITAL  AND   CONSOLIDA- 
TION OF  LABOR. 

JUDGE  DAVID  J.    BREWER,  U.   S.   SUPREME  COURT. 

The  most  noticeable  social  fact  of  to-day  is  that  of 
the  combination  of  capital  and  the  organization  of  labor. 
Whatever  may  be  the  causes,  and  whatever  may  be  the 
results,  good  or  bad,  the  fact  is  beyond  dispute  that  the 
trend  of  the  two  great  industrial  forces  of  capital  and  labor 
is  along  the  line  of  consolidation  and  co-operation.  I  am 
not  here  to  decry  this  tendency.  I  realize  full  well  that 
only  through  this  movement  are  the  great  material  achieve- 
ments of  the  day  possible  ;  but  one  thing  is  clear,  and  that 
is  that  the  penalty  which  the  nation  pays  for  all  its  benefits 
is  the  growing  disposition  to  sacrifice  the  individual  to  the 


LABOR  DA  Y. 


445 


mass,  to  make  the  liberty  of  the  one  something  which  may 
be  ruthlessly  trampled  into  the  dust,  because  of  some  sup- 
posed benefit  to  the  many. 

A  capital  combine  may,  as  is  claimed,  produce  better, 
cheaper,  and  more  satisfactory  results  in  manufacture,  trans- 
portation, and  general  business  ;  but  too  often  the  combine 
is  not  content  with  the  voluntary  co-operation  of  such  as 
choose  to  join.  It  grasps  at  monopoly,  and  seeks  to  crush 
out  all  competition.  If  any  individual  prefers  his  inde- 
pendent business,  however  small,  and  refuses  to  join 
the  combine,  it  proceeds  to  assail  that  business.  With  its 
accumulation  of  wealth,  it  can  afford  for  a  while  to  so 
largely  undersell  as  to  speedily  destroy  it.  It  thus  crushes 
or  swallows  the  individual,  and  he  is  assaulted  as  though 
he  were  an  outlaw. 

So  it  is  with  organizations  of  labor  ;  the  leaders  order  a 
strike  ;  the  organization  throws  down  its  tools  and  ceases 
to  work.  No  individual  member  dare  say  :  "  I  have  a 
family  to  support,  I  prefer  to  work,"  but  is  forced  to  go 
with  the  general  body.  Not  content  with  this,  the  organiza- 
tion too  often  attempts  by  force  to  keep  away  other  laborers. 
It  stands  with  its  accumulated  power  of  numbers  not  merely 
to  coerce  its  individual  members,  but  also  to  threaten  any 
outsiders  who  seek  to  take  their  places.  Where  is  the 
in^lividual  laborer  who  dares  assert  his  liberty,  and  act  as 
he  pleases  in  the  matter  of  work  ;  where  is  the  individual 
contractor  or  employer  who  can  carry  on  his  business  as 
he  thinks  best  J 

But  it  may  be  asked.  May  not  a  man  be  compelled  by 
law  to  do  that  which  he  does  not  wish  to  do,  without  losing 
liberty  ?  Certainly  ;  and  let  me  formulate  a  law  which 
expresses  exactly  that  which  the  organization  by  force  and 
without  law  attempts  to  do.  ''  Be  it  enacted  :  that  where 
two  or  more  are  employed  in  the  same  work  they  shall 
enter  into  an  organization,  and  thereafter  no  member  shall 
work  for  any  longer  time,  or  less  wages,  or  in  any  other 
place  or  manner  than  the  majority  shall  determine  ;  and  if 


446 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION. 


LABOR  DAY. 


447 


the  employer  shall  discharge  any  member,  or  attempt  to 
employ  one  not  a  member,  all  shall  stop  work,  and  by  force 
strive  to  prevent  other  laborers  from  taking  their  places." 
How  much  of  liberty  is  expressed  by  such  a  law,  and  who 
is  willing  to  stand  father  to  such  legislation  ? 

So  long  as  any  single  man,  the  humblest  and  the  weakest 
in  the  land,  may  not  enter  into  business  or  engage  in  labor 
such  as  his  means  will  permit  and  his  inclination  deter- 
mine, just  so  long  is  personal  liberty  an  unaccomplished 
fact. 

As  the  old  story  goes  :  A  man  entering  a  restaurant  in 
the  far  AVest,  and  while  looking  over  the  elaborate  bill  of 
fare,  was  accosted  by  the  proprietor  with  the  inquiry  :  "  Do 
you  want  hash  ? "  "No,"  was  the  answer,  "  I  will  take  quail 
on  toast."  "•  Stranger,  you  want  hash,"  came  from  the  pro- 
prietor,  and  as  the  guest  looked  up  and  saw  the  gleaming 
of  the  revolver  in  his  hand,  he  meekly  replied  :  •*  Yes,  I 
will  take  hash."  The  statutes  may  promise  as  much  as 
that  bill  of  fare,  but  when  the  single  laborer  sees  the  shin- 
ing  barrel  of  the  organization  gleaming  in  the  sunlight,  he 
takes  simply  the  hash  which  is  proffered,  while  too  often 
his  wife  and  children  get  nothing,  not  even  hash.  It  is 
true  that  there  is  a  commendable  effort  constantly  being 
made  to  secure  the  liberty  of  the  individual  ;  but  are  we 
forever  to  be  calling  out  the  militia  to  protect  property 
from  the  hand  of  strikers — are  the  Pinkertons  to  become 
the  constant  factor  in  our  civilization  ? 

Is  it  not  time  that  the  dormant  energies  of  our  nation 
were  aroused  and  a  speedy  and  summary  stop  put  to  every 
such  trespass  on  any  man's  liberty  ?  Are  we  going  to  drift 
along  until  this  contest  ends  in  a  bloody  struggle  ?  Must 
our  children  pay,  for  securing  the  real  liberty  of  each  indi- 
vidual, the  price  that  the  nation  paid  many  years  ago  to 
abolish  human  slavery  ?  Is  the  World's  Fair  the  last 
achievement  of  our  civilization  ?  Is  Governor  Altgeld 
waiting  to  be  the  Jefferson  Davis  of  to-morrow? 

I  am  drawing  no  fancy  sketch  :  I  only  gather  from  the 


columns  of  the  daily  press  the  oft-told  story,  and  the  fact 
is,  as  no  thoughtful  man  can  doubt,  that  the  drift  to-day  is 
toward  subjection  of  the  individual  to  the  domination  of 
the  organization.  The  business  men  are  becoming  the 
slaves  of  the  combine,  the  laborers  of  the  trades  union  and 
organization.  Through  the  land  the  idea  is  growing  that 
the  individual  is  nothing,  and  that  the  organization,  and 
then  the  state,  is  everything  ;  and  we  have  the  fancy 
sketch  of  the  dreamer  of  a  supposed  ideal  state,  in  which 
the  individual  has  no  choice  of  lot  or  toil,  but  is  moved 
about  according  to  the  supposed  superior  wisdom  of  the 
organized  mass  ;  and  this,  we  are  told,  is  the  liberty  for 
which  the  ages  have  toiled,  and  for  which  human  blood  has 
crimsoned  the  earth.  As  against  this  servitude  and  sacri- 
fice of  individual  liberty,  I  wish  to  enter  my  earnest  protest. 
The  Great  Master  divined  the  powers  and  possibilities  of  our 
nature,  when  he  dethroned  priests  and  prelates  and  bade 
each  soul  stand  face  to  face  alone  with  its  God. 

In  the  nation  generally  the  cry  for  socialism  comes 
largely  from  the  dissipated,  the  lazy,  the  dishonest.  In 
Kansas  it  comes  from  a  conservative  class,  the  farmers — 
those  themselves  honest  toilers,  actuated  not  by  selfish  pur- 
poses, but  by  profound  conviction,  erroneous  though  it  may 
be,  that  wealth  is  the  product  of  artificial  rules  cunningly 
devised  in  the  interest  of  the  few,  and  that  the  many,  by 
acting  together  and  directing  the  life  and  toil  of  each,  can 
work  such  a  change  as  to  make  it  the  equal  inheritance  of 
all.  With  sympathy  for  the  purpose  which  actuates  them, 
I  am  convinced  that  their  ignoring  of  the  lessons  of 
history  is  a  step  toward  socialism,  and  the  destruction  of 
the  liberty  that  the  toil  of  centuries  has  achieved.  I  fear 
that  their  experience  will  be  like  that  of  the  Millerite  who, 
early  on  the  appointed  day,  put  on  his  white  robes,  and 
joined  his  companions  in  the  place  of  prayer  to  share  in  the 
predicted  ascension.  Weary  with  his  long  waiting,  and 
seeing  in  a  near  field  a  haystack,  he  climbed  on  to  its  top 
and  soon  went  to  sleep.     Some  wag  set  fire  to  the  hay,  and 


I 


^^ 


448 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


as  the  flames  flashed  up  around  him  the  sleeper  waked  and 
shouted  in  agony  :  '*  In  hell  after  all."  So  they  who  listen 
to  these  Populist  predictions  of  a  new  and  speedy  ascension 
to  the  heaven  of  wealth  will  be  apt  to  find  themselves  in 
the  hell  of  a  more  abject  poverty. 

New   York  Independent. 


ADJUSTMENTS  BETWEEN  LABOR  AND 

CAPITAL. 

BISHOP   S.   G.   HAYGOOD,   D.   D. 

Lockouts  and  strikes  are  but  symptoms  of  maladjust- 
ments between  capital  and  labor. 

Any  particular  strike  does  not  in  itself  prove  that  labor 
is  oppressed.  Foolish  or  bad  men  may  strike  without 
reason.  Some  strikes  manifest  a  despotism  as  unscrupul- 
ous as  the  most  heartless  monopolist  or  the  most  soulless 
corporation  could  exhibit.  Some  strikers  are  bad  men, 
desperate  and  conscienceless  anarchists,  no  better  than 
bandits  who  **  hold  up  "  trains,  robbing  and  murdering  as 
the  occasion  may  determine.  But  to  say  of  all  men  who 
strike,  they  are  bad  men,  lawless,  dishonest,  despotic,  this  is 
rank  folly  and  gross  injustice.  AVhen  fifty  thousand  men 
march  into  Trafalgar  Square,  London,  there  will  be 
among  them  some  of  the  worst  of  men  ;  there  will  be  also 
some  of  the  best.  And  it  is  very  well  to  remember  that 
very  bad  and  dangerous  men  may  stand  for  a  just  cause 
and  have  rights  that  a  good  man  cannot  ignore.  Here  and 
there  strikers  do  silly  and  wicked  things  ;  but  let  us  dis- 
tinctly understand  that  the  millions  of  wage-earners  are 
neither  insane  nor  bad. 

These  people  will  give  us  trouble,  but  they  alone  can- 
not destroy  our  institutions.  We  are  in  more  danger 
from  blind  capitalists — "  fishing  from  morning  till  night," 
or  otherwise  engaged  in  strenuous  idleness  and  neglect 
of  their  responsibilities  and  duties — than  from  these  miser- 


LABOR  DAY. 


449 


able  and  desperate  foreigners.  We  speak  of  the  "  dan- 
gerous classes,"  and  doctrinaires  look  at  the  cabins,  cellars, 
garrets,  and  crowded  tenements  that  shelter  the  poorest 
of  those  who  toil  for  meager  support.  Maybe  these  people 
are  dangerous  ;  certain  it  is  they  may  be  made  dangerous. 
But  they  do  not,  by  all  means,  exhaust  the  significance  of 
the  phrase  "  dangerous  classes."  There  are  people  more 
dangerous  than  they.  Monopolists  who  employ  thousands 
of  working  people — men,  women,  children — and  will  not 
or  cannot,  in  their  devilish  greed  of  gain,  see  that  their 
hirelings  have  something  more  than  the  right  to  exist — 
these  also  are  our  dangerous  classes.  Such  as  they  are 
will  account  this  sort  of  writing  incendiary.  Men  like 
them  crucified  the  Teacher  who  came  out  of  Galilee  and 
and  told  the  tyrants  and  monopolists  of  that  day  how  mean 
and  wicked  they  were.  Their  successors  in  our  own  times 
and  country  would  put  Him  in  prison  and  to  death  to-day 
had  they  the  opportunity.  Day  by  day  do  they  despise  His 
teachings  concerning  fair  play  and  righteousness — albeit 
some  of  them  claim  to  be  among  His  people.  In  the 
ancient  Jerusalem  were  men  who  blew  rams'  horns  on  the 
corners  of  the  streets  when  they  prayed  and — then  went 
and  "  robbed  the  widow's  houses.**  *'Whited  sepulchers" 
He  called  them. 

There  is  but  one  other  man  as  blind  as  this  kind  of  a 
capitalist — the  workingman  who  destroys  property  because 
his  terms  are  not  met,  or  who  persecutes,  maybe  kills, 
another  workman  who  claims  the  right  to  earn  bread  for 
his  children,  but  yet  declines  to  join  himself  to  any  labor 
union  whatsoever.  This  blind  capitalist  increases  the  perils 
that  threaten  his  class  ;  this  blind  workman  who  argues 
his  case  with  fire  and  powder — burning  and  killing — he 
strengthens  the  fetters  that  bind  his  class  to  poverty  and 
hunger.  Both  these  men  belong  to  the  dangerous  classes  ; 
both  are  the  enemies  of  our  institutions;  both  of  them 
obstruct  the  progress  of  civilization. 

The  end  will  never  come  and  ought  never  to  come  till 


450 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION; 


justice  is  done.  Monopolists  may  deride  the  cry  of  the 
wage-earners  and  fight  against  them  with  money  and  the 
Pinkertons,  desperate  men  may  delay  the  consummation 
by  wrongs  done  in  the  sacred  name  of  justice,  but  neither 
nor  both  can  finally  defeat  her  holy  ends. 

Few  more  hopeful  or  cheering  evidences  of  life  and 
growth  among  the  nations  of  the  earth  have  ever  appeared 
than  the  deep,  strong  movement  in  all  civilized  countries 
toward  a  more  righteous  adjustment  between  the  rights  of 
capital  and  the  rights  of  labor — between  the  responsibilities 
of  government  and  the  duties  of  citizens.  To  men  who 
lack  faith  both  in  God  and  man  there  may  appear  only 
chaos — with  darkness,  tempest,  and  a  wild  waste  of  waters  ; 
but  the  spirit  of  life  is  brooding  over  all,  and  in  God's 
time  a  fair,  glad  world  will  appear  in  its  place. 

Who  is  there  who  cannot  do  something  to  hasten  the 
better  day  ?  This  is  the  cause  of  all  good  men,  for  it  is 
the  cause  of  the  good  God.  The  humblest  Christian  may 
do  something  ;  he  can  give  his  voice  and  his  prayer  for 
righteousness.  Who  is  there  among  workers  who  cannot 
do  more  faithful  work  ?  Who  among  employers  who  can- 
not treat  a  workman  more  as  a  brother  should  treat  a 
brother  ? 

^ew  York  Ifidependent. 


THE  RIGHTS  OF  LABORING  MEN. 

S.  E.  WISHARD,   OGDEN,   UTAH. 

Every  man  whom  I  have  met  to-day  belongs  to  that 
royal    crowd,    **  the  workingmen." 

These  men  have  rights.  The  lawyer  has  not  forfeited 
his  rights  by  keeping  company  with  Blackstone,  nor  the 
physician  by  consulting  his  medical  books.  The  merchant 
has  not  lost  his  rights  by  attending  strictly  to  business. 
The  baker  who  constructed  a  good  mess  of  pottage  has  a 
right  to  eat  it,  or  its  equivalent  in  barter.     The  man  who" 


LABOR  DA  v. 


451 


handles  his  pick  has  a  right  to  labor,  even  though  he  should 
not  be  able  to  earn  his  three  or  five  dollars  a  day.  The 
smaller  his  earnings,  the  more  sacred  is  his  right  to  those 
earnings.  The  shoemaker  has  a  right  to  peg  away,  and  no 
man  dare  say  he  shall  not.  If  he  cannot  earn  as  much  as 
the  more  skilled  men  of  his  craft,  he  has  as  good  a  right  to 
what  he  can  earn  as  the  most  gifted  man  at  the  awl.  Now, 
suppose  all  the  awl  men  form  a  combination  and  pass  an 
edict  that  Tom  Cobbler  shall  not  work  because  he  cannot 
earn  more  than  two  dollars  a  day.  Tom  did  not  want  to 
join  the  union,  lest  some  eloquent  idler  should  come  along 
and  switch  the  union  off  the  track,  and  he  would  be  obliged 
to  go  hungry  and  his  children  cry  for  bread.  We  are  sorry 
for  Tom,  but  we  have  decided  that  he  shall  not  work  for 
two  dollars  a  day.  And  to  show  our  sympathy  for  him  we 
will  make  up  a  purse  and  give  him  ten  cents  a  day,  if  he 
will  join  our  union.  If  he  does  not  join,  he  shall  not  work, 
and  we  will  break  his  head  in  the  bargain,  so  that  he  will 
not  want  to  work.  Some  of  us  have  a  little  question 
whether  this  may  not  be  an  interference  with  Tom  Cobbler's 
personal  rights.  But  if  the  majority  of  us  vote  it,  does  not 
not  that  give  it  the  sanction  of  law  ?  Ought  not  the 
majority  to  rule  ?     Ahem! 

It  has  been  said  that  the  merchant  has  a  right  to  attend 
to  his  own  business,  and  so  conduct  the  same  as  to  provide 
for  his  family.  But  suppose  the  rest  of  the  merchants  in 
our  town  decide  to  sell  calico  for  fifty  cents  a  yard.  It  is 
very  plain  that  if  people  must  have  calico  we  shall  make 
something  on  this  rise,  especially  those  of  us  who  have  a 
good  supply  on  hand.  We  have  all  agreed  to  it,  except  our 
neighbor  Fairdealing  across  the  street.  He  persists  in 
selling  at  the  old  price.  He  says  it  is  enough  for  him.  He 
is  satisfied  with  the  profits.  But  the  merchants  have 
formed  a  union,  and  have  voted  that  no  man  shall  sell 
goods  for  less  than  the  union  price.  Now  here  is  a  conflict. 
What  shall  we  do  ?  Only  one  thing,  of  course,  if  Mr.  Fair- 
dealing  persists  in  his  stubborn  way  of  doing  business.     We 


452 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


will  run  his  business  for  him.  \Ve  have  decided  to  take  the 
keys  to  his  store  and  his  safe  and  sell  his  goods  at  our  own 
price.  What  right  has  a  man  to  do  business  in  his  own 
way,  when  we  have  by  a  good  majority  voted  against  him  ? 
More  than  that,  if  he  dare  resist,  or  attempt  to  resist  by 
securing  assistance,  someone  may  be  killed  in  the  melee. 
Then,  of  course,  Mr.  Fairdealing  will  be  guilty  of  murder 
and  should  be  executed. 

The  fact  is  our  labor  unions  are  giving  the  world  some 
new  and  advanced  ideas  on  the  subject  of  government, 
law,  personal  rights,  and  business  in  general.  Here  is  a 
case  in  hand.  Mr.  Smith  (not  Senex)  had  some  "■  notions  " 
about  our  union  which  he  was  unwise  enough  to  ventilate. 
He  discovered,  however,  that  in  order  to  secure  work  he 
must  join  the  union.  When  he  attempted  to  do  so,  three 
of  us  gave  him  the  benefit  of  as  many  blackballs.  Of 
course  he  could  not  get  in.  It  was  necessary  to  teach  him 
a  lesson.  As  he  could  not  join  our  union  he  could  get  no 
work.  For  we  have  decided  that  no  man  shall  work  who 
is  not  a  union  man.  He  squirmed  and  twisted  for  a  time, 
but  of  course  he  had  to  leave  the  town.  He  moved  over 
to  the  town  of  Dowell,  and  attempted  to  join  the  union 
there.  We  knew,  however,  that  it  was  simply  for  the  pur- 
pose of  feeding  his  family.  We  wrote  to  the  officers  of  the 
union,  and  they  would  receive  no  man  who  was  actuated 
by  such  base  motives.  Three  blackballs  ended  his  vile 
ambition  there.  He  was  left  to  take  care  of  his  family  as 
best  he  could  without  labor.  For  it  has  come  to  be  a 
settled  principle  that  no  man  shall  work  who  is  not  a  member 
of  the  union.  This  is  necessary  for  the  protection  of  labor. 
If  we  should  allow  men  to  work  who  are  not  members  of 
our  union,  our  men  would  suffer,  and  other  laborers  would 
take  the  wages  that  belong  to  us. 


LABOR  DA  V. 


453 


THE  DISCONTENT  OF  THE  TIMES. 


REV.   R.   S.   STORRS,   D.   D. 

There  is  in  our  time  a  wide  spread  spirit  of  discontent. 
It  is  not  in  consequence  of  any  severity  of  oppression,  or 
any  sharp  contrast  between  what  is  and  what  used  to  be,  or 
any  effects  of  commercial  panic,  or  any  fear  of  the  future ; 
but  how  comes  it  that  it  is  distributed  so  widely  as  it  is. 

There  are  several  facts  which  we  have  to  recognize,  I 
think,  in  order  to  obtain  any  fair  and  clear  explanation  of  it. 
One  is,  that  the  wealth  of  all  civilized  countries,  and  pre- 
eminently of  this  country,  is  immensely  and  rapidly  increas- 
ing in  recent  years.  In  our  own  country  it  comes,  of  course, 
from  the  opening  of  mines,  from  the  perfecting  of  mechan- 
isms, from  the  coal  fields  and  the  cotton  fields,  the  sugar 
plantations  and  the  oil  wells,  and  from  the  multiplication  of 
railroads  stretching  over  the  whole  extent  of  the  country 
and  almost  of  the  continent.  And  so  it  increases — this 
public  wealth — with  enormous  rapidity,  in  vast  ratio,  and 
to  an  extraordinary  and  unprecedented  extent. 

Wherever  Christianity  goes  it  carries  riches  in  its 
train,  by  the  push  which  it  gives  to  human  enterprise, 
and  the  education  which  it  gives  to  human  faculty, 
by  the  public  spirit  and  the  domestic  spirit  which  are 
nurtured  by  it.  '*  As  poor,"  said  the  Apostle,  "  yet 
making  many  rich  ; "  whether  he  had  material  riches 
in  his  eye  or  not — perhaps  he  had  not — his  word  was 
true.  It  applies  in  even  the  physical  sense  to  every  com- 
munity in  which  the  ministry  of  the  Gospel  goes  on. 
Preaching  the  Gospel  is  the  means  of  accumulating  and 
augmenting  the  riches  of  the  world,  through  its  influence 
upon  the  spirit  and  the  character,  on  the  life  and  the  minds 
of  those  who  receive  it.  So  it  comes  to  pass  that  this  enor- 
mous multiplication  of  wealth  in  our  own  times,  within  this 
country,  has  gone  on  in  other  lands  as  really,  if  not  as 
swiftly,  as  in  this. 


454 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


Still  another  fact  is  that  there  is  a  growing  tendency, 
apparently,  in  this  country,  to  make  wealth  hereditary  in 
these  vast  masses  of  it ;  and  to  transmit  it  from  one  gene- 
ration to  another,  to  a  third,  a  fifth,  and  a  sixth,  perhaps, 
in  unbroken  amount,  and  even  accumulating  all  the  time. 
The  expectation  of  the  law  is  that  estates,  particularly  if  of 
enormous  amount,  are  to  be  broken  up  with  the  death  of 
him  who  has  been  first  to  possess  them.  It  is  felt  to  be 
in  the  interests  of  the  public  welfare  that  they  should  be. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  tendency  now  is,  as  I  have 
said,  to  carry  them  on  through  successive  generations,  and 
so  to  build  up  by  degrees  an  hereditary  aristocracy  of 
wealth — an  aristocracy  not  founded  on  great  deeds  for  the 
state  in  council  or  in  arms  ;  not  founded  on  great  charac- 
ter and  pre-eminent  wisdom  for  civil  and  military  affairs  ; 
an  aristocracy  founded  simply  upon  skill  and  luck  in  trad- 
ing or  in  speculation  ;  which  therefore  stirs  no  awe  or 
reverence  toward  itself;  which  excites  envy  perhaps, 
certainly  wonder  ;  but  which  does  not  impress  the  public 
mind,  especially  does  not  impress  the  classes  whose  discon- 
tent we  are  considering,  with  any  sense  of  superior  virtue, 
or  even  of  superior  capacity,  in  those  who  are  its  repre- 
sentatives. This  tendency,  as  I  have  said,  appears  to  be  on 
the  increase  in  the  country  rather  than  to  be  diminishing; 
and  vast  fortunes,  suddenly  acquired,  vauntingly  exhibited, 
and  carried  on  through  successive  generations,  become  a 
real  menace  to  our  civilization. 

Then  it  is  to  be  observed,  as  another  fact,  that  in  conse- 
quence of  this  immense  increase  in  national  wealth,  of  this 
vast  and  sudden  accumulation  of  property,  and  of  this  ten- 
dency to  transmit  immense  possessions  to  generation  after 
generation,  the  popular  estimate  of  wealth  in  this  country 
has  become  enormously  exaggerated.  It  is  higher,  by  far, 
than  it  ever  has  been  before — higher,  certainly,  than  in  the 
days  of  our  fathers,  when  wisdom,  high  character,  were 
reckoned  as  the  chief  goods  in  public  men,  or  in  private 
life  ;  higher  than  in  the  days  of  the  Civil  War,  when  men 


LABOR  DAY. 


455 


honored  heroism  in  spirit  and  in  action,  when  they  wanted 
the  largest  power  in  council  or  on  the  field — a  power  disci- 
plined in  tactics,  but  especially  a  power  for  the  grand 
strategy  which  was  to  move  vast  masses  of  men,  and  make 
them  converge  upon  the  point  of  decisive  attack.  Charac- 
ter was  honored  then — the  spirit  which  was  ready  to  risk 
everything  for  the  rescue  of  the  nation.  But  now  in  place 
of  that  has  come  this  immensely  exaggerated  popular  esti- 
mate of  wealth.  Perhaps  it  is  natural  in  a  country  like  ours, 
where  there  is  no  kingly  estate,  where  there  is  no  heredi- 
tary nobility,  where  there  are  no  fixed  distinctions  of  rank, 
where  there  is  no  legal  class  privilege.  At  any  rate,  it 
exists,  and  more  and  more  it  widens  in  the  land  ;  so  that 
the  doings  of  the  rich  man  are  chronicled  in  the  papers  ; 
he  is  pointed  out  to  those  who  are  strangers  in  the  city  as 
being  the  real  king  in  his  community;  his  death  flings 
such  a  shadow  over  the  city,  and  over  the  land,  as  the  death 
of  a  great  philanthropist  would  not,  or  the  death  of  a  great 
statesman,  or  of  one  who  had  rendered  great  historical 
service  to  his  country. 

This  exaggerated  estimate  of  wealth  is  to  be  taken  into 
account  in  connection  with  the  forces  which  I  have  before 
referred  to,  and  then  the  several  facts  stand  before  us  to- 
gether :  The  immense  and  rapid  accumulation  of  wealth 
in  the  country  ;  the  vast,  sudden  acquisition  of  wealth  by 
individuals  ;  the  tendency  to  transmit  it  unbroken  through 
successive  generations  ;  and  the  inordinate  estimate  of  it 
on  the  part  of  the  whole  people,  taking  the  place  of  rever- 
ence for  high  character,  or  of  popular  honor,  for  large  wis- 
dom, and  large  moral  power. 

Here,  then,  we  get  a  glimpse  at  the  secret  of  the  existing 
discontent — not  among  the  hopeless  poor,  not  among  the 
drunken  and  vicious,  but  among  those  who  are  industrious, 
sober,  and  temperate,  who  desire  for  themselves  and  for 
their  families  a  prosperous  though  a  modest  advance  in  the 
things   of   the   world. 

It  is  precisely  such  unsatisfied  aspiration  which  has  been 


4S6 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


lifting  the  race  forward,  from  the  advent  of  Christ  till  this 
hour.  It  is  just  this  unsatisfied  aspiration  which  God  has 
planted  in  its  element  in  the  human  soul,  and  to  which  he 
presents  the  hidden  riches  of  the  earth  ;  locked  up  behind 
deserts  and  seas,  and  lodged  under  mountain  crests, 
which  a  man  must  work  for  that  he  may  gain  them,  but 
which  he  can  gain  if  he  will  patiently  and  courageously 
work. 

Men  may  be  led  to  feel  that  wealth  is  not  necessary  to 
domestic  happiness,  or  to  domestic  education  ;  that  char- 
acter is  greater  than  wealth  ;  that  the  true  riches  are  those 
of  the  spirit — that  those  are  the  only  riches  which  history 
recognizes  and  celebrates  ;  the  only  riches  which  are  dear  to 
God's  mind  ;  the  only  riches  which  can  be  carried  forward 
into  the  illustrious  immortality.  The  Gospel  works,  of 
course,  always  in  that  direction.  It  bears  upon  its  very 
front  the  motto  :  *'  A  man's  life  consisteth  not  in  the  abund- 
ance of  the  things  which  he  possesseth."  Sometimes  men 
hate  it  on  account  of  that  very  motto  ;  but  there  it  stands 
blazing  in  lucid  letters  before  the  world  forever  ;  coming 
from  the  divine  mind  which  gave  the  Gospel  to  the 
world.  In  it  is  the  secret  of  all  noblest  prosperity  and 
progress. 

And  there  is  no  greater  duty  resting  on  Christian  men 
and  women  than  to  take  that  motto  of  the  Master,  and 
transmute  it  into  the  character,  and  illustrate  it  in  life.  I 
would  send  the  Gospel  to  every  distant  island  of  the  sea, 
make  it  at  home  on  every  remote  and  darkened  shore  ; 
but  I  would  count  this  a  duty  prior  even  to  that,  and 
supremer  in  importance — that  men  and  women  living  in 
our  time,  and  themselves  prosperous,  should  illustrate  in 
character  and  in  life  that  divine  maxim  ;  should  regally 
show  that  wealth,  if  it  comes,  is  to  be  used  honestly,  nobly, 
beneficently — is  not  the  chief  good  of  human  life  ;  it  is 
only  an  instrument  to  that  which  is  better  and  higher,  and 
"a  man's  life  consisteth  not  in  the  abundance  of  the  things 
which  he  possesseth." 


LABOR  DAY. 


457 


USEFUL  LESSONS  OF  LABOR  DAY. 

SAMUEL    GOMPERS,   PRESIDENT     OF    THE    AMERICAN    FEDERA- 
TION  OF   LABOR. 

What,  then,  is  responsible  for  the  present  lack  of  pros- 
perity among  all  classes  except  some  favored  few  ?  First, 
the  reduction  of  the  amount  of  human  labor  necessary  to 
be  expended  in  the  production  of  those  things  which  satisfy 
human  wants,  and,  second,  the  unjust  regulation  of  hours 
of  labor,  which  gives  to  one  toiler  more  work  than  a  single 
human  being  can  perform  with  benefit  to  mental  and 
physical  well-being,  and  denies  to  another  that  opportunity 
to  earn  his  bread  which  would  seem  to  be  guaranteed  to 
every  man  by  every  law,  both  human  and  divine.  I  repeat, 
let  these  two  maladjustments  of  human  society  be  rectified 
and  panics  will  become  matters  of  history  alone. 

Workingmen  are  at  the  foundation  of  society.  Show 
me  that  product  of  human  endeavor  in  the  making  of 
which  the  workingman  has  had  no  share,  and  I  will  show 
you  something  that  society  can  well  dispense  with.  The 
grandest  artistic  conception,  the  loftiest  work  of  human 
genius  presupposes  the  workingman's  co-operation.  This 
would  be  a  platitude  but  for  the  necessity  of  bringing  out 
the  fact  that  the  wealthy,  the  luxurious,  the  leisure  classes, 
the  many  who  need  have  no  material  care  for  the  morrow, 
owe  that  state  of  affairs  to  the  labor  of  the  working 
thousands.  How  concerned  should  they  be,  therefore,  in 
all  that  has  to  do  with  the  well-being  of  toilers  !  Instead 
of  holding  themselves  aloof  they  should  be  a  party  to  every 
effort  for  better  industrial  conditions.  When  theories  that 
seem  false  and  ideas  that  are  declared  dangerous  find 
favorable  acceptance  among  workingmen,  how  can  the  so- 
called  "  upper  classes  "  have  any  influence  to  correct  them 
when  there  never  seems  to  exist  any  sympathy  between 
the  rich  and  the  poor  ?  I  do  not  admit  that  workingmen 
have  faith    in  fallacies.      I    would     simply    remind    well- 


458 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION. 


disposed  persons  who  have  the  good  of  the  workingman 
at  heart  that  they  must  not  come  upon  the  scene  at  the 
last  moment  and  expect  to  influence  men  with  whose 
condition  and  grievances  they  can  have  no  possible  acquaint- 
ance. This  accounts,  in  my  opinion,  for  that  conspicuous 
lack  of  influence  with  the  working  classes  exhibited  on  all 
occasions  by  thinkers  and  teachers. 

Another  significant  Labor  Day  lesson  may  be  learned  in 
the  discernment  with  which  the  toilers  dispose  of  the 
twenty-four  hours  given  over  to  them.  They  are  not 
employed  in  dissipation,  but  in  healthful  exercise  and 
intellectual  improvement.  Every  organization  endeavors 
to  have  some  man  of  eminence  deliver  an  address  on  the 
questions  of  the  hour.  There  are  debates,  readings,  con- 
versations on  matters  of  importance  in  the  labor  world. 
In  fine,  the  workingman  wants  to  learn,  and  (I  assure  the 
doubter)  can,  and  frequently  does,  teach.  No  feature  of 
Labor  Day  is  more  to  be  commended  than  its  thoroughly 
American  tone.  The  Republic's  workers  have  consecrated 
this  one  day  in  the  year  to  their  cause,  and  never  will  they 
voluntarily  have  it  associated  with  anything  that  is  not 
thoroughly  patriotic,  elevating,  and  inspiring.  If  every 
citizen  of  our  country  will  devote  but  a  few  minutes  of  his 
time  to-morrow  to  a  consideration  of  the  merits  of  this 
new-born  holiday,  and  of  what  he  can  do  to  make  it  as 
pleasant  as  possible  to  those  in  whose  name  it  was  set 
apart,  one  good  at  least  will  have  resulted  from  the  lessons 
of  Labor  Day. 

New  York  Herald. 


CAUSE   OF   MUCH    IDLENESS   AND   CRIME. 

FOREIGN-CONTROLLED      LABOR      UNIONS      PREVENT     AMERI- 
CAN   BOYS    FROM    LEARNING    TRADES. 

American  boys,  partly  because  of  the  passing  away  of  the 
apprentice  system,  and  partly  because  of  the  hostility  of  the 
foreign-controlled  labor  unions,  are  virtually  excluded  from 


LABOR  DAY. 


459 


the  mechanical  trades.  This  exclusion  is  an  injustice  to 
the  boys,  and  serious  are  the  consequences  to  the  moral 
welfare  of  the  whole  country.  We  are  bringing  up  our 
boys,  or  a  very  large  proportion  of  them,  in  enforced  idle- 
ness, turning  over  the  fields  of  honorable  and  useful  toil  to 
foreigners,  nearly  all  of  whom  are  ignorant  and  depraved, 
and  few  of  whom  have  any  sympathy  with  American  insti- 
tutions and  ways  of  life.  What  are  the  consequences  ? 
We  will  let  statistics  speak  on  this  point. 

The  statistical  tables  of  the  census  of  1890  show  that  the 
number  of  white  male  prisoners  in  all  the  prisons,  peni- 
tentiaries, and  reformatory  institutions  in  the  United 
States  in  1890  was  52,894.  Of  this  number  38,156  were 
native  born  ;  of  20,101  of  these  native  born,  both  parents 
were  native  ;  of  2729  of  them,  one  parent  was  native  ; 
of  3560  of  them,  the  nativity  of  one  or  both  parents 
was  unknown;  of  11,766,  both  parents  were  foreign 
born.  Only  13,869  of  the  52,894  prisoners  were  foreign 
born.  That  is  to  say,  nearly  three-fourths  of  the  convicted 
criminals  in  the  United  States  are  born  in  this  country  ; 
more  than  half  of  them  of  American  parents,  only  a  little 
more  than  one  fourth  being  foreign  born. 

This  is  a  startling  exhibit,  but  before  commenting  upon 
it  let  us  examine  the  figures  which  Mr.  Wines  has  collected 
for  this  census  as  to  the  occupations  of  prisoners  at  the  time 
of  conviction.  Of  the  52,894  it  appears  that  31,426  had  no 
trade  whatever,  and  of  this  31,426  no  fewer  than  23,144  were 
native  born.  That  is  to  say,  nearly  three-fourths  of  those 
who  had  become  criminals  through  lack  of  occupation  were 
Americans.  Let  us  go  a  little  further  with  Mr.  Wines'  valu- 
able statistics  and  examine  the  ages  of  the  prisoners  at  the 
time  of  conviction.  We  find  that  11,753  were  between  20 
and  24  years,  10,642  between  25  and  29  years,  7815  between 
30  and  34  years,  5716  between  35  and  39  years,  or  a 
total  of  36,126  between  the  ages  of  20  and  40— that  is, 
nearly  three-fourths  of  the  whole.  The  average  age  of 
all  prisoners  was  less  than  32  years  ;  of   native  born   it 


460 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


was  about  30  years,  and  of  foreign  born  it  was  about 
31.  Mr.  Wines  says,  in  a  special  bulletin  on  homi- 
cide, that  of  4425  whites  charged  with  that  crime  in 
1890,3157  were  born  in  the  United  States,  and  he  adds  ; 
**  More  than  four-fifths  have  no  trade.  The  foreign  born 
and  their  children  have  much  more  generally  acquired  a 
trade  than  the  native  whites." 

These  figures  tell  their  own  story  with  such  startling 
plainness  that  comment  upon  them  seems  scarcely  necessary. 
What  they  show  is  that  American  boys  are  becoming 
criminals  and  filling  our  prisons,  because  of  lack  of  occu- 
pation. 

As  a  nation  we  are  shutting  our  own  sons  out  of  the  field 
of  American  labor,  thus  filling  our  prisons  and  reformatories 
and  almshouses  with  them,  and  are  letting  into  that  field, 
for  full  possession,  hordes  of  foreigners  who  make  it  a 
menace  to  the  safety  of  American  institutions,  and  a 
constant  peril  to  the  peace  and  welfare  of  American  society. 

The  evil  consequences  increase  with  every  year.  Statis- 
tics of  crime  show  that  the  proportion  of  criminals  to  popu- 
lation has  been  increasing  steadily  and  rapidly  since  1850, 
In  that  year  we  had  one  criminal  to  every  3500  of  popula- 
tion. In  1890  we  had  one  for  every  786.5  of  population. 
This  is  an  increase  of  445  per  cent,  in  criminals  as 
compared  with  an  increase  of  170  per  cent,  in  popu- 
lation. We  cannot  charge  this  increase  to  our  large 
foreign  immigration,  because,  as  the  figures  cited  by  us 
show,  nearly  three-fourths  of  all  our  criminals  are  native 
born. 

Aside  from  all  moral  and  political  aspects  of  the  case, 
the  pecuniary  cost  of  such  a  policy  is  a  serious  matter. 
There  are  50  large  penitentiaries  and  over  17,000  county 
jails  in  the  country,  as  well  as  almost  innumerable  other 
places  of  imprisonment.  The  cost  of  construction  of  these 
institutions  has  been  estimated  by  good  authorities  as 
exceeding  $500,000,000.  The  cost  of  maintenance  is  well- 
nigh  incalculable. 


LABOR   DAY. 


461 


In  every  way  in  which  the  matter  is  viewed  the  folly  of 
it  is  apparent,  but  all  other  aspects  of  it  sink  into  insig- 
nificance when  compared  with  the  injustice  which  it  inflicts 
upon  our  sons.  No  right-thinking  American  who  loves  his 
fellow-man  and  has  the  welfare  and  honor  of  his  country 
at  heart  can  contemplate  this  without  shame  and  anxiety. 
One-fifth  of  our  entire  able-bodied  male  population  is 
engaged  in  the  mechanic  arts.  Shall  this  great  body  be 
made  up  of  self-respecting,  enlightened  American  citizens, 
or  shall  it  be  made  up  of  foreigners,  more  or  less  disorderly 
and  ignorant,  and  almost  entirely  un-American  in  senti- 
ment ?  These  are  questions  which  every  American  ought 
to  ponder,  and  when  he  has  pondered  them  there  can  be  no 

doubt  of  his  answer. 

The  Century  Magazirie, 


The  spirit  of  the  nation  is  at  the  highest— its  triumph 
over  the  inborn,  inbred  perils  of  the  constitution  has  chased 
away  all  fears,  justified  all  hopes,  and  with  universal  joy 
we  greet  this  day.  We  have  not  proved  unworthy  of  a 
great  ancestry  ;  we  have  had  the  virtue  to  uphold  what  they 
so  wisely,  so  firmly  established.  With  these  proud  posses- 
sions of  the  past,  with  powers  matured,  with  principles 
settled,  with  habits  formed,  the  nation  passes,  as  it  were, 
from  preparatory  growth  to  responsible  development  of 
character,  and  the  steady  performance  of  duty.  What 
labors  await  it,  what  trials  shall  attend  it,  what  triumphs 
for  human  nature,  what  glory  for  itself,  are  prepared  for 
this  people  in  the  coming  century,  we  may  not  assume  to 
foretell.  "•  One  generation  passeth  away,  and  another 
generation  cometh,  but  the  earth  abideth  forever,"  and  we 
reverently  hope  that  these  our  constituted  liberties  shall  be 
maintained  to  the  unending  line  of  our  posterity,  and  so 
long  as  the  earth  itself  shall  endure. 

In  the  great  procession  of  nations,  in  the  great  march  of 
humanity  we  hold  our  place.  Peace  is  our  duty,  peace  is 
our  policy.     In  its  arts,  its  labors,  and   its  victories,  then, 


462 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


LABOR  DAV. 


463 


we  find  scope  for  all  our  energies,  rewards  for  all   our 
ambitions,  renown  enough  for  all  our  love  and  fame. 

W.  M.  EVARTS. 


LABOR   TROUBLE. 

The  ever  smoldering  war  between  labor  and  capital  has 
broken  out  into  fierce  flames  in  Europe.  England  has 
suffered  for  several  months  from  the  bitter  dogged 
struggle  that  has  been  going  on  between  the  mine  owners 
and  the  thousands  that  delve  in  the  grimy  collieries.  Ger- 
man mining  districts  have  been  disturbed  by  similar  strikes, 
and  in  France,  where  the  strikers  show  their  racial  excita- 
bility, the  wives  of  the  laborers  have  united  in  savage  assaults 
on  non-union  miners  and  the  soldiers  who  protected  them. 
In  our  own  country,  the  general  business  depression  has 
so  weakened  both  manufacturers  and  employees  that  there 
is  little  strength  left  for  strikes.  Many  manufacturers  have 
been  obliged  to  cut  down  wages,  but  this  has  been  an 
honest  necessity  in  most  cases,  and  the  manufacturer 
would  welcome  the  chance  offered  by  a  strike  to  shut 
down  temporarily.  But  on  the  whole,  the  distress  of  the 
capitalist  is  far  too  real  to  permit  of  the  hope  of  gains  by 
striking. 

The  laboring  man  has  gained  much,  but  it  is  fair  to 
suppose  that  the  increase  in  production,  the  improvement 
in  methods,  the  sharpness  of  competition,  and  the  general 
advance  of  the  world's  civilization  would  have  brought 
these  gains  without  strike.s. 


Strikes  Serve  an  Educational  Purpose.  They 
almost  always  reach  a  point  where  violence  is  advocated. 
Whenever  that  line  is  reached,  two  or  three  simple  principles 
have  to  be  proclaimed  :  i.  Property  is  protected  by  laws 
which  apply  equally  to  the  clothes  on  a  laborer's  back  and 
a  million. dollar  mill  ;  2.  That  if  property  is  destroyed  by 


rioters,  the  taxpayers  must  foot  the  bill  ;  3.  That  it  is  the 
sworn  duty  of  sheriffs,  governors,  and  judges  to  execute 
laws,  and  to  apply  the  laws  justly  ;  4.  That  abstract 
theories  cannot  overcome  the  simple  principles  enacted 
into  law  for  the  protection  of  a//  property.  The  average 
disinterested  man  usually  begins  by  a  sympathetic  attitude 
toward  striking  workmen,  and  ends,  after  he  has  learned 
his  lesson  over  again,  in  a  sympathetic  attitude  toward  men 
who  want  to  take  the  vacant  places  of  the  strikers,  and 
toward  the  majesty  of  equal  laws,  which  forbid  either  side 
to  harm  the  property  of  the  other. 

What  Constitutes  a  Strike  ? — If  the  employees  of  a 
road  say  that  the  work  suits  them,  but  the  proposed  wage 
reduction  does  not  please  them,  and  they  mean  to  leave 
work  and  will  not  return  until  the  demand  for  the  reduction 
is  given  up,  when  they  will  go  back  at  once,  that  is  a  strike. 
It  becomes  a  most  effective  strike  from  the  labor  point  of 
view  when  the  strikers  will  not  allow  the  company  to  put 
on  other  men  to  take  their  places,  but  insist  that  the  road 
must  remain  dead  until  the  force  of  public  sentiment  has 
compelled  the  corporation  to  yield  to  the  demands  made 
of  it. 

If  a  strike  meant  simply  cessation  from  work  on  the  part 
of  certain  men  then  it  is  doubtful  whether  a  court  would 
enjoin  it.  But  when  a  strike  means  a  tie-up  of  a  line  with 
consequent  annoyance  and  injury  to  the  public  then  it  is 
quite  proper  that  a  court  should  take  steps  to  prevent  the 
occurrence  of  one.  The  only  feature  of  the  strike  which 
the  labor  leaders  set  store  on  is  that  one  which  makes  it 
difficult  for  a  railroad  or  other  employer  to  set  men 
at  work  in  the  strikers'  places.  They  want  no  work  done 
and  no  cars  run  till  the  fight  is  settled  in  their  favor.  But 
strike  features  are  lawless.  Union  labor  has  no  right  to 
punch  the  head  of  the  labor  which  takes  its  place,  and  an 
order  which  says  it  must  not  act  thus  deprives  it  of  no 
constitutional   right.  Chicago  Tribune. 


•'^Vt 


464 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASIOJST. 


JUSTICE  BROWN  ON  SOCIALISM. 

The  radical  difficulty  with  socialism  is  that  it  takes  away 
the  incentive  to  labor  for  anything  beyond  the  actual  neces- 
sities of  life.  The  man  who  will  work  every  hour  in  the 
day  wherein  labor  is  possible,  and  lie  awake  nights  inventing 
schemes  whereby  his  labor  will  be  made  more  profitable 
and  a  fortune  accumulated  for  his  family,  would  quickly 
sink  to  the  general  level  if  he  once  became  conscious  that 
his  utmost  exertions  would  realize  him  nothing  beyond  his 
infinitesimal  share  as  a  member  of  the  state. 

While  men  with  whom  the  habit  of  work  has  become 
strong  do  sometimes  continue  to  labor  for  reputation  alone, 
it  is  the  desire  to  earn  money  which  lies  at  the  bottom  of 
the  greatest  efforts  of  genius.  The  man  who  writes  books, 
paints  pictures,  molds  statues,  builds  houses,  pleads  causes, 
preaches  sermons,  or  heals  the  sick,  does  it  for  the  money 
there  is  in  it,  and  if,  in  so  doing,  he  acquires  a  reputation 
as  an  author,  painter,  sculptor,  architect,  jurist,  or  physician, 
it  is  only  an  incident  to  his  success  as  a  money-getter. 
The  motive  which  prompted  Angelo  to  plan  the  dome  of 
St.  Peter's,  or  paint  the  frescoes  of  the  Sistine  Chapel 
was  essentially  the  same  as  that  which  induces  a  common 
laborer  to  lay  brick  or  dig  sewers.  The  love  of  power  or 
a  great  name  comes  only  after  a  pecuniary  competence  has 
been  secured,  and  our  everyday  experience  teaches  us  that 
the  spark  of  genius  is  rarely  kindled  in  the  interest  of  those 
who  are  borne  rich. 

Our  estimate  of  the  condition  of  this  people  as  bearing 
on  the  value  and  efficiency  of  the  principles  on  which  the 
Government  was  founded,  in  maintaining  and  securing  the 
permanent  well-being  of  a  nation — woulci  indeed  be  incom- 
plete if  we  failed  to  measure  the  power  and  purity  of  the 
religious  elements  which  pervade  and  elevate  our  society. 
One  might  as  well  expect  our  land  to  keep  its  climate,  its 
fertility,  its  salubrity,  and  its  beauty  were  the  globe 
loosened  from  the  law  which  holds  it  in  an  orbit,  where  we 


LABOR  DAY. 


465 


feel  the  tempered  radiance  of  the  sun,  as  to  count  upon  the 
preservation  of  the  delights  and  glories  of  liberty  for  a 
people  cast  loose  from  religion,  whereby  man  is  bound  in 
harmony  with  the  moral  government  of  the  world. 

It  is  quite  certain  that  the  present  day  shows  no  such 
solemn  absorption  in  the  exalted  themes  of  contemplative 
piety  as  marked  the  prevalent  thought  of  the  people  of 
a  hundred  years  ago  ;  nor  so  hopeful  an  enthusiasm  for  the 
speedy  renovation  of  the  world  as  burst  upon  us  in  the 
marvelous  and  wide  system  of  vehement  religious  zeal,  and 
practical  good  works,  in  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  But  these  fires  are  less  splendid,  only  because 
they  are  more  potent,  and  diffuse  their  heat  in  well-formed 
habits  and  manifold  agencies  of  beneficent  activity.  They 
traverse  and  permeate  society  in  every  direction.  They 
travel  with  the  outposts  of  civilization  and  outrun  the 
caucus,  the  convention,  and  the  suffrage. 

The  Church  throughout  this  land,  upheld  by  no  political 
establishment,  rests  all  the  firmer  on  the  rock  on  which  its 
Founder  built  it.  The  great  mass  of  our  countrymen  to-day 
find  in  the  Bible— the  Bible  in  their  worship,  the  Bible 
in  their  schools,  the  Bible  in  their  households — the  sufficient 
lessons  of  the  fear  of  God  and  the  love  of  man,  which 
make  them  obedient  servants  to  the  free  constitution  of 
their  country,  in  all  civil  duties,  and  ready  with  their  lives 
to  sustain  it  on  the  fields  of  war. 


THE   REMEDY   FOR   STRIKES. 


These  differences  cannot  be  regarded  as  irreconcilable, 
if  the  parties  in  interest  are  disposed  to  be  governed  by 
the  dictates  of  reason  and  correct  business  principles.  In 
some  cases  the  interests  of  workmen  are  directed  by 
arbitrary  and  exacting  trades  unions.  Of  late  we  have 
seen  that  anarchists  in  some  parts  of  the  country  have 
been  inciting  striking  laborers  to  acts  of  violence.     Under 


m. 


466 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION. 


'■\ 


*{ 


such  circumstances  it  cannot  be  expected  that  the 
employers  will  be  coerced  into  compliance  with  the 
demands  of  the  strikers  ;  and  the  latter  lose  much  of  the 
general  sympathy  they  would  have  had  if  they  had  taken 
a  more  judicious  course.  There  ought  to  be  no  war 
between  labor  and  capital,  and  each  should  respect  the 
rights  and  interests  of  the  other.  It  may  be  said  that  the 
latter  commonly  has  the  advantage  of  the  former,  for  the 
futility  of  labor  trying  to  dictate  terms  to  capital  has  often 
been  demonstrated. 

It  is  beginning  to  be  recognized,  even  by  some  of  the 
trades  unions,  that  strikes  do  not  aiford  a  satisfactory 
method  of  settling  disputes  between  laborers  and  their 
employers.  The  Knights  of  Labor  in  Pennsylvania  have 
recently  taken  this  ground.  The  necessity  of  some  better 
remedy  for  industrial  antagonisms  than  is  afforded  by  the 
policy  of  continuing  the  struggle  until  one  side,  or  the  other 
is  compelled  to  yield  to  terms,  must  be  manifest  to  every 
impartial  observer.  All  serious  differences  between  the 
employers  and  the  employed  should  be  settled  by  arbitra- 
tion. This  has  proved  quite  an  effectual  remedy  for  the 
prevention  of  strikes  in  the  manufacturing  districts  of 
England  and  France.  A  judicious  system  of  arbitration 
is  being  given  a  trial  in  Pennsylvania,  and  if  it  is  successful 
in  its  results  it  will  probably  be  adopted  in  other  States. 
Arbitration  is,  without  doubt,  the  true  remedy,  because  it 
can  be  made  legally  operative  by  legislative  enactment. 
But  the  moral  remedy  for  labor  troubles  is  a  practical 
application  of  the  Golden  Rule,  which  is  too  little  regarded 
in  the  affairs  of  the  business  world. 


LINCOLN'S  BIRTHDAY. 

Biogfraphical. — Abraham  Lincoln,  sixteenth  President  of  the 
United  States,  was  born  in  Hardin  County,  Kentucky,  on  the  12th 
of  February,  1809.  His  early  home  was  one  of  extreme  poverty, 
but  of  strict  virtue.  His  mother,  an  intelligent  Christian  lady, 
taught  him  to  read  and  write.  In  1816  his  parents  removed  to 
what  is  now  Spencer  County,  Indiana.  Here  he  received  a  few 
months  of  schooling,  the  only  advantages  of  the  kind  he  ever 
enjoyed.  His  youth  was  characterized  by  stalwart  physical  growth, 
by  great  industry,  honesty,  and  a  thirst  for  learning. 

In  1830  his  father  removed  to  Decatur  County,  Illinois,  and 
established  himself  on  an  uncultivated  farm.  Here  Abraham  split 
rails  for  fencing,  which,  in  later  years,  gave  him  the  title  of  *'  rail- 
splitter."  During  these  years  he  mastered  all  the  books  within  his 
reach,  and  hungered  for  more. 

In  1832  he  served  as  captain  of  volunteers  in  the  war  against 
Black  Hawk,  and  two  years  later  he  was  elected  to  the  Legislature 
of  Illinois,  where  he  continued  four  years.  In  1836  he  was 
admitted  to  the  bar,  and  the  following  year  opened  an  office  at 
Springfield,  and  gradually  rose  to  the  first  rank  as  an  attorney.  In 
politics  he  was  a  Whig  in  his  early  years,  and  in  1844  canvassed 
the  State  for  Henry  Clay.  In  1846  he  was  elected  to  Congress. 
In  1848  he  canvassed  the  State  for  General  Taylor,  and  in  1858 
he  canvassed  it  again  in  opposition  to  Judge  Douglas,  nominee  for 
the  United  States  Senatorship. 

In  i860  he  was  nominated  by  the  Republicans  for  the  Presidency, 
and  elected,  by  a  minority  of  the  people,  three  other  tickets  being 
in  the  field.  His  election  was  made  the  occasion  for  the  secession 
of  States,  and  the  attempt  to  destroy  the  Union,  which  President 
Buchanan  did  not  prevent.  Entering  upon  his  duties  as  President, 
March  4,  1861,  and  finding  that  nothing  but  armed  force  could 
hold  the  States  together,  he  reluctantly  accepted  the  issue,  muster- 
ing hundreds  of  thousands  of  troops,  and  waged  through  his  first 
term  a  war  of  astounding  magnitude,  resulting  in  the  complete 
triumph  of  the  Federal  authority.  His  Emancipation  Proclama- 
tion, a  war  measure,  issued  September  22,  1862,  and  taking  effect 
January  i,  1863,  obliterated  chattel  slavery  forever  in  the  United 
States. 

He  was  re-elected  by  an  immense  popular  majority  in  1864,  but 
was  assassinated  by  John  Wilkes  Booth,  April  14,  1865.  He 
gathered  around  him  in  office  the  greatest  minds,  and  he  was  honest, 
fearless,  pure — a  statesman  and  a  patriot. 

469 


470 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


LINCOLN'S  BIRTHDAY— FEBRUARY  12,  1809. 

PROFESSOR   DAVID   SWING,   CHICAGO. 

All  days  which  are  notable  should  be  remembered. 
The  world  does  well  to  mark  its  sense  of  the  importance  of 
such  days,  for  one  of  the  most  fatal  diseases  of  the  mind  is 
indifference,  and  hence  everything  which  tends  to  rouse 
men  out  of  their  indifference  is  beneficial. 

The  life  of  Lincoln  should  never  be  passed  by  in  silence 
by  young  or  old.  He  touched  the  log  cabin  and  it  became 
the  palace  in  which  greatness  was  nurtured.  He  touched 
the  forest  and  it  became  to  him  a  church  in  which  the 
purest  and  noblest  worship  of  God  was  observed.  His 
occupation  has  become  associated  in  our  minds  with  the 
integrity  of  the  life  he  lived.  In  Lincoln  there  was  always 
some  quality  that  fastened  him  to  the  people  and  taught 
them  to  keep  time  to  the  music  of  his  heart.  Instances 
are  given  of  his  honesty,  but  there  are  tens  of  thousands  of 
men  as  honest  as  he.  The  difference  is  that  they  are  not 
able  to  concentrate  the  ideal  of  honor  as  he  did.  He 
reveals  to  us  the  beauty  of  plain  blackwoods  honesty.  He 
grew  up  away  from  the  ethics  of  the  colleges,  but  he 
acquired  a  sense  of  honesty  as  high  and  noble  as  the  most 
refined  of  the  teachers  of  ethics  could  comprehend. 

It  ought  to  be  a  great  happiness  in  our  day  to  read 
pages  in  which  the  virtue  of  honesty  is  held  up,  for  by  some 
unhappy  chain  of  circumstances  financial  dishonesty  seems 
always  to  get  to  the  front  among  us.  We  have  plenty  of 
honesty,  but  it  seems  to  be  winnowed  out  successfully  by 
the  new  fanning  machine. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

REV.  H.  W.  BOLTON,  D.  D. 

His  biography  is  written  in  blood  and  tears ;  uncounted 
millions  arise  and  call  him  blessed ;  a  redeemed  and 
reunited    republic    is   his    monument.     History    embalms 


LINCOLN'S  BIRTHDAY. 


471 


the  memory  of  Richard  the  Lion-Hearted  ;  here,  too,  our 
martyr  finds  royal  sepulture  as  Lincoln  the  tender-hearted. 

He  was  brave.  While  assassins  swarmed  in  Washington, 
he  went  everywhere,  without  guard  or  arms.  He  was  mag- 
nanimous. He  harbored  no  grudge,  nursed  no  grievance  ; 
was  quick  to  forgive  ;  and  was  anxious  for  reconciliation. 
Hear  him  appealing  to  the  South:  "We  are  not  enemies, 
but  friends.  Though  passion  may  have  strained,  it  must 
not  break,  the  bond  of  our  ciffection.  The  mystic  chord  of 
memory,  stretching  from  every  patriot  grave  to  every  heart 
and  hearth-stone,  all  over  this  broad  land,  will  yet  swell 
with  the  chorus  of  the  Union,  when  touched  again,  as  it 
surely  will  be,  by  the  better  angels  of  our  nature." 

He  was  compassionate.  With  what  joy  he  brought 
liberty  to  the  enslaved.  He  was  forgiving.  In  this  respect 
he  was  strikingly  suggestive  of  the  Saviour.  He  was  great. 
Time  will  but  augment  the  greatness  of  his  name  and  fame. 
Perhaps  a  greater  man  never  ruled  in  this  or  any  other 
nation.  He  was  good  and  pure  and  incorruptible.  He 
was  a  patriot  ;  he  loved  his  country  ;  he  poured  out  his 
soul  unto  death  for  it.  He  was  human,  and  thus  touched 
the  chord  that  makes  the  world  akin. 

Wherever  the  bright  sun  of  heaven  shall  shine, 

His  honor  and  the  greatness  of  his  name 

Shall  be,  and  make  new  nations ;  he  shall  flourish,  and, 

Like  a  mountain  cedar,  reach  his  branches 

To  all  the  plains  about  him — our  children's  children 

Shall  see  this,  and  shall  bless  him. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,  OUR  MARTYRED 

LEADER. 

REV.  HENRY  WARD  BEECHER. 

There  is  no  historic  figure  more  noble  than  that  of  the 
Jewish  law-giver.  After  so  many  thousand  years,  the  figure 
of  Moses  is  not  diminished,  but  stands  up  against  the  back- 
ground of   early  days  distinct  and  individual  as  if  he  had 


472 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


lived  but  yesterday.  There  is  scarcely  another  event  in 
history  more  touching  than  his  death.  He  had  borne  the 
great  burden  of  state  for  forty  years,  shaped  the  Jews  to 
a  nation,  filled  out  their  civil  and  religious  polity,  admin- 
istered their  laws,  guided  their  steps,  or  dealt  with  them  in 
all  their  journeyings  in  the  wilderness  ;  had  mourned  in 
their  punishment,  kept  step  with  their  march,  and  led  them 
in  wars  until  the  end  of  their  labors  drew  nigh.  The  last 
stage  was  reached.  Jordan,  only,  lay  between  them  and  the 
Promised  Land.  The  Promised  Land  !  Oh,  what  yearn- 
ings had  heaved  his  breast  for  that  divinely  foreshadowed 
place  !  He  had  dreamed  of  it  by  night,  and  mused  of 
it  by  day  ;  it  was  holy  and  endeared  as  God's  favored 
spot.  It  was  to  be  the  cradle  of  an  illustrious  history.  All 
his  long,  laborious,  and  now  weary  life,  he  had  aimed  at 
this  as  the  consummation  of  every  desire,  the  reward  of 
every  toil  and  pain.  Then  came  the  word  of  the  Lord  to 
him,  "  Thou  mayest  not  go  over.  Get  thee  up  into  the 
mountain,  look  upon  it,  and  die  !  " 

Again  a  great  leader  of  the  people  has  passed  through 
toil,  sorrow,  battle,  and  war,  and  come  near  to  the 
promised  land  of  peace,  into  which  he  might  not  pass  over. 
Who  shall  recount  our  martyr's  sufferings  for  this  people. 
Since  the  November  of  i860,  his  horizon  has  been  black 
with  storms.  By  day  and  by  night  he  trod  a  way  of  danger 
and  darkness.  On  his  shoulders  rested  a  government 
dearer  to  him  than  his  own  life.  At  its  integrity  millions 
of  men  at  home  were  striking;  upon  it  foreign  eyes 
lowered.  It  stood  like  a  lone  island  in  a  sea  full  of  storms  ; 
and  every  tide  and  wave  seemed  eager  to  devour  it.  Upon 
thousands  of  hearts  great  sorrows  and  anxieties  have 
rested,  but  not  on  one  such,  and  in  such  measure,  as  upon 
that  simple,  truthful,  noble  soul,  our  faithful  and  sainted 
Lincoln.  Never  rising  to  the  enthusiasm  of  more  impas- 
sioned natures  in  hours  of  hope,  and  never  sinking  with 
the  mercurial  in  hours  of  defeat  to  the  depth  of  despond- 
ency,  he  held  on  with  unmovable  patience  and  fortitude, 


LINCOLN'S  BIRTHDAY, 


473 


putting  caution  against  hope  that  it  might  not  be  premature, 
and  hope  against  caution  that  it  might  not  yield  to  dread 
and  danger.  He  wrestled  ceaselessly,  through  four  black 
and  dreadful  purgatorial  years,  wherein  God  was  cleansing 
the  sins  of  his  people  as  by  fire. 

At  last  the  watcher  beheld  the  gray  dawn  for  the  country. 
The  mountains  began  to  give  forth  their  forms  from  out  of 
the  darkness  ;  and  the  East  came  rushing  toward  us  with 
arms  full  of  joy  for  all  our  sorrows.  Then  it  was  for  him 
to  be  glad  exceedingly  that  had  sorrowed  immeasurably. 
Peace  could  bring  to  no  other  heart  such  joy,  such  rest, 
such  honor,  such  trust,  such  gratitude.  But  he  looked 
upon  it  as  Moses  looked  upon  the  Promised  Land. 

Then  the  wail  of  a  nation  proclaimed  that  he  had  gone 
from  among  us.    .   . 

Not  thine  the  sorrow,  but  ours,  sainted  soul  !  Thou  hast 
indeed  entered  into  the  promised  land,  while  we  are  yet  on 
the  march.  To  us  remain  the  rocking  of  the  deep,  the 
storm  upon  the  land,  days  of  duty  and  nights  of  watching  ; 
but  thou  are  sphered  high  above  all  darkness  and  fear, 
beyond  all  sorrow  and  weariness.     Rest,  oh,  weary  heart ! 

Dead,  he  speaks  to  men  who  now  willingly  hear  what 
before  they  refused  to  listen  to.  Men  will  receive  a  new 
impulse  of  patriotism  for  his  sake,  and  will  guard  with  zeal 
the  whole  country  which  he  loved  so  well  :  I  swear  you  on 
the  altar  of  his  memory  to  be  more  faithful  to  the  country 
for  which  he  has  perished.  Men  will,  as  they  follow  his 
hearse,  swear  a  new  hatred  to  that  slavery  against  which  he 
warred,  and  which  in  vanquishing  him  has  made  him  a 
martyr  and  a  conqueror  :  I  swear  you  by  the  memory  of 
this  martyr  to  hate  slavery  with  an  unappeasable  hatred. 
Men  will  imitate  and  admire  his  unmoved  firmness,  his 
inflexible  conscience  for  the  right ;  and  yet  his  gentleness, 
as  tender  as  a  woman's,  his  moderation  of  spirit,  which  not 
all  the  heat  of  party  could  inflame,  nor  all  the  jars  and  dis- 
turbances  of  this  country  shake  out  of  its  place  :  I  swear  you 
to  an  emulation  of  his  justice,  his  moderation,  and  his  mercy. 


474 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


LINCOLN'S  BIRTHDAY, 


475 


■1 


'^  \ 


LINCOLN'S  CHOICE  AND  DESTINY. 

REV.     F.    M.    BRISTOL,    CHICAGO. 

As  God  appeared  to  Solomon  and  Joseph  in  dreams  to 
urge  them  to  make  wise  choices  for  the  power  of  great  use- 
fulness, so  it  would  appear  that  in  their  waking  dreams  the 
Almighty  appeared  to  such  history-making  souls  as  Paul 
and  Constantine,  Alfred  the  Great,  Washington,  and  Lin- 
coln. It  was  the  commonest  kind  of  a  life  this  young  Lin- 
coln was  living  on  the  frontier  of  civilization,  but  out  of 
that  commonest  kind  of  living  came  the  uncommonest  kind 
of  character  of  these  modern  years,  the  sublimest  liberative 
power  in  the  history  of  freedom.  Lincoln  felt  there  as  a 
great  awkward  boy  that  God  and  history  had  something 
for  him  to  do.  He  dreamed  his  destiny.  He  chose  to 
champion  the  cause  of  the  oppressed.  He  vowed  that 
when  the  chance  came  he  would  deal  slavery  a  hard  blow. 
He  felt  it,  call  the  feeling  what  you  will,  explain  it  how  you 
will,  that  he  was  to  be  the  President  of  the  United  States. 
When  he  came  to  the  high  office  he  came  with  a  character 
which  had  through  the  years  been  fitting  itself  for  the  grave 
responsibilities.  He  had  been  making  wise  choices  on  the 
great  questions  of  human  rights,  of  national  union,  of  con- 
stitutional freedom,  of  universal  brotherhood. 


LINCOLN  THE  HERO  OF  HIS  CONVICTIONS. 

REV.   LEROY   HOOKER,   CHICAGO. 

Why  is  it  the  purpose  of  this  great  nation  to  keep  Lin- 
coln's memorial  and  character  perpetually  before  the  eyes 
of  her  youth  ?  Because  he  was  a  Christian,  not  merely  by 
education  and  profession,  and  not  at  all  from  policy  in  a 
time  of  need,  but  a  born-again  Christian.  He  was  a  Chris- 
tian who  believed  in  the  Bible.  When  a  deputation  of 
colored  people  waited  upon  him  in  Baltimore,  he  said, 
among  other  things  :  *'  This  book  is  the  best  gift  of  God 


to  men."  He  was  a  Christian  who  leaned  hard  on  the  arm 
of  the  Almighty.  The  gentleness  and  tenderness  of  Jesus 
Christ  seemed  to  be  incarnated  again  in  Abraham  Lincoln. 
The  stories  are  many  of  his  interference  to  save  unfortu- 
nate soldiers  condemned  to  be  shot  for  some  shortcoming 
in  duty.  He  was  a  patriot  who  carried  his  righteousness 
into  his  patriotism.  He  would  serve  and  save  his  country, 
but  he  would  do  it  in  the  Lord's  way.  He  possessed 
remarkable,  farseeing,  deepseeing,  highseeing  wisdom.  He 
had  well-nigh  superhuman  courage.  No  man  was  ever 
called  to  undertake  graver  responsibilities  than  were  before 
him  when  he  was  first  elected.  No  man  was  ever  more 
harassed  and  perplexed  by  friends  as  well  as  by  foes  both 
at  home  and  abroad.  The  eager  abolitionists  of  the  North 
demanded  immediate  emancipation.  So  did  many  influ- 
ential voices  from  Europe.  But  the  hero  of  righteousness 
stood  firm  in  the  conviction  that  loyal  men  had  not  become 
outlaws  in  acquiring  slave  property  and  that  general  eman- 
cipation could  not  be  justified  until  it  became  necessary  as 
a  measure  to  save  the  Union.  That  time  came  at  last,  and 
with  it  the  historic  proclamation.  It  was  interesting  to 
note  how  the  London  Times  thundered  up  to  that  time, 
"Why  didn't  he  free  the  slaves?"  and  how  the  week 
after  it  thundered,  "What  did  he  do  it  for?"  Through 
all  the  pressure  and  the  measureless  responsibility  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  stood  like  a  giant  girt  with  the  strength 
of  God. 

The  memorial  of  Abraham  Lincoln  is  in  the  millions  of 
the  Afro-American  race,  now  free.  It  is  in  the  reverence 
and  love  of  the  freest,  greatest,  and  most  progressive 
nation  on  the  earth.  It  is  in  the  amended  Constitution 
of  these  United  States,  which  Constitution  has  at  last 
become  the  formula  of  freedom  and  indissoluble  bond 
of  union. 


W^S^^SSWS^^W^S^SS^gs^smtwff^S- 


476 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


BISHOP  J.  P.  NEWMAN'S  TRIBUTE. 

The  beauty  of  Lincoln's  immortal  character  has  thrown 
in  the  shade  the  splendors  of  his  intellect.  The  time  will 
be  when  the  severest  critics  of  mental  philosophy  and 
mental  development  will  sit  in  judgment  and  admiration 
upon  the  splendid  brain  of  that  great  man.  He  was  a 
logician  by  nature.  His  terse  and  beautiful  rhetoric  rivals 
the  utterances  of  the  greatest  orators  of  the  past  and 
present.     He  was  truly  great. 

It  is  well,  therefore,  that  you  gather  here  once  a  year 
around  this  festive  board  to  commemorate  the  character  of 
this  illustrious  man  ;  gather  here  to  protect  the  freedom 
and  purity  of  the  ballot  and  that  you  may  have  a  new 
baptism  of  patriotism. 


THE  GREATNESS  OF  LINCOLN'S  SIMPLICITY. 

REV.   H.   A.   DELANO,   EVANSTON,   ILL. 

He  was  uneducated,  as  that  term  goes  to-day,  and  yet  he 
gave  statesmen  and  educators  things  to  think  about  for  a 
hundred  years  to  come.  Beneath  the  awkward,  angular, 
and  diffident  frame  beat  one  of  the  noblest,  largest,  tenderest 
hearts  that  ever  swelled  in  aspiration  for  truth,  or  longed 
to  accomplish  a  freeman's  duty.  He  might  have  lacked  in 
the  knowledge  supposed  to  reside  in  a  Harvard  or  Yale 
graduate,  but  he  had  creative  faculty  and  power  to  think. 
He  might  have  lacked  in  that  acute  analysis  which  knows 
the  *'  properties  of  matter,"  but  he  knew  the  passions,  emo- 
tions, and  weaknesses  of  men  ;  he  knew  their  motives. 
If  half  the  college-bred  workers  to-day  were  as  well  posted 
in  universal  sense  as  in  universal  gravitation  it  would  be 
a  large  blessing  for  us  all. 

Lincoln  had  the  genius  to  mine  men  and  strike  easily 
the  rich  ore  of  human  nature. 

He  was  poor  in  this  world's  goods  and  I  prize  grate- 
fully a  facsimile  letter  lying  among  the  treasures  of  my 


LINCOLN'S  BIRTHDAY, 


477 


study  written  by  Mr.  Lincoln  to  an  old  friend,  requesting 
the  favor  of  a  small  loan,  as  he  had  entered  upon  that 
campaign  of  his  that  was  not  done  until  death  released  the 
most  steadfast  hero  of  that  infernal  war. 

Men  speculate  as  to  his  religion.  It  was  the  religion 
of  the  seer,  the  hero,  the  patriot,  and  the  lover  of  his  race 
and  time.  Amid  the  political  idiocy  of  the  times,  the  cor- 
ruption in  high  places,  the  dilettante  culture,  the  vaporings 
of  wild  and  helpless  theorists,  in  this  swamp  of  political 
quagmire,  O  Lincoln,  it  is  refreshing  to  sit  down  and  think 
of  thee. 


LINCOLN  AS  CAVALIER  AND  PURITAN. 

H.  W.  GRADY,  ATLANTA,  GA. 

The  virtues  and  traditions  of  both  happily  still  live  for 
the  inspiration  of  their  sons  and  the  saving  of  the  old  fashion. 
But  both  Puritan  and  cavalier  were  lost  in  the  storm  of 
their  first  revolution,  and  the  American  citizen,  supplanting 
both,  and  stronger  than  either,  took  possession  of  the 
Republic  bought  by  their  common  blood  and  fashioned  in 
wisdom,  and  charged  himself  with  teaching  men  free  gov- 
ernment and  establishing  the  voice  of  the  people  as  the 
voice  of  God.  Great  types  like  valuable  plants  are  slow  to 
flower  and  fruit.  But  from  the  union  of  these  colonists, 
from  the  straightening  of  their  purposes  and  the  crossing 
of  their  blood,  slow  perfecting  through  a  century,  came  he 
who  stands  as  the  first  typical  American,  the  first  who  com- 
prehended within  himself  all  the  strength  and  gentleness, 
all  the  majesty  and  grace  of  this  Republic — Abraham 
Lincoln.  He  was  the  sum  of  Puritan  and  cavalier,  for  in 
his  ardent  nature  were  fused  the  virtues  of  both,  and  in  the 
depths  of  his  great  soul  the  faults  of  both  were  lost.  He 
was  greater  than  Puritan,  greater  than  cavalier,  in  that  he 
was  American,  and  that  in  his  homely  form  were  first 
gathered  the  vast  and  thrilling  forces  of  this  ideal  govern- 
ment— charging  it  with  such  tremendous  meaning  and  so 


478 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


elevating  it  above  human  suffering  that  martyrdom,  though 
infamously  aimed,  came  as  a  fitting  crown  to  a  life  con- 
secrated from  its  cradle  to  human  liberty.  Let  us,  each 
cherishing  his  traditions  and  honoring  his  fathers,  build 
with  reverent  hands  to  the  type  of  this  simple  but  sublime 
life,  in  which  all  types  are  honored,  and  in  the  common 
glory  we  shall  win  as  Americans,  there  will  be  plenty  and 
to  spare  for  your  forefathers  and  for  mine. 


ANECDOTES    AND    INCIDENTS    IN    THE    LIFE 

OF   LINCOLN. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  first  political  speech  when  he  was  a 
candidate  for  the  Illinois  Legislature  was  as  follows: 

"  Gentlemen,  Fellow  Citizens  r  I  presume  you  know 
who  I  am.  I  am  humble  Abraham  Lincoln.  I  have  been 
solicited  by  many  friends  to  become  a  candidate  for  the 
legislature.  My  politics  can  be  briefly  stated.  I  am  in 
favor  of  a  national  bank.  I  am  in  favor  of  the  internal 
improvement  system,  and  a  high  protective  tariff.  These 
are  my  sentiments  and  political  principles.  If  elected, 
I  shall  be  thankful.     If  not,  it  will  be  all  the  same." 

On  one  occasion,  an  anti-slavery  delegation  from  New 
York  were  pressing  the  adoption  of  the  emancipation 
policy.  During  the  interview  the  chairman,  the  Rev. 
Dr.  C,  made  a  characteristic  and  powerful  appeal,  largely 
made  up  of  quotations  from  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures. 
Mr.  Lincoln  received  the  *'  bombardment  "  in  silence.  As 
the  speaker  concluded,  he  continued  for  a  moment  in 
thought,  and  then,  drawing  a  long  breath,  responded  : 
"  Well,  gentlemen,  it  is  not  often  one  is  favored  with  a 
delegation  direct  from  the  Almighty  !  " 

One  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  Springfield  neighbors,  a  clergy- 
man, visiting  Washington  early  in  the  administration, 
asked  the  President   what   was   to  be   his   policy  on   the 


LINCOLN'S  BIRTHDAY, 


479 


slavery  question.  "  Well,"  said  he,  *^  I  will  answer  by 
telling  you  a  story.  You  know  Father  B.,  the  old 
Methodist  preacher  ?  and  you  know  Fox  River  and  its 
freshets  ?  Well,  once  in  the  presence  of  Father  B.  a 
young  Methodist  was  worrying  about  Fox  River,  and 
expressing  fears  that  he  should  be  prevented  from  fulfill- 
ing some  of  his  appointments  by  a  freshet  in  the  river. 
Father  B.  checked  him  in  his  gravest  manner.  Said  he  : 
*  Young  man,  I  have  always  made  it  a  rule  in  my  life  not 
to  cross  Fox  River  till  I  get  to  it ! '  " 

On  the  occasion  of  the  cemetery  dedication  at  Gettys- 
burg, when  the  Presidential  party  reached  Hanover  Junc- 
tion they  found  a  large  concourse  of  people  assembled 
to  greet  them.  Mr.  Lincoln  and  Secretary  Seward,  an 
hour  previous,  had  gone  into  the  sleeping-car  attached  to 
the  train,  for  some  rest.  In  response  to  the  clamor  of  the 
crowd,  a  friend  intruded  upon  them,  saying  to  the  Presi- 
dent that  he  was  "  expected  to  make  a  speech."  "  No  !  " 
he  rejoined  very  emphatically  ;  "  I  had  enough  of  that 
sort  of  thing  all  the  way  from  Springfield  to  Washington. 
Seward,"  said  he,  turning  over  in  his  berth,  *'you  go  out 
and  repeat  some  of  your  *  poetry '  to  the  people  !  " 


The  antagonism  between  the  northern  and  southern 
sections  of  the  Democratic  party  drew  out  one  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's  hardest  hits.  "  I  once  knew,"  said  he,  "  a  sound 
churchman  by  the  name  of  Brown,  who  was  a  member  of 
a  very  sober  and  pious  committee  having  in  charge  the 
erection  of  a  bridge  over  a  dangerous  and  rapid  river. 
Several  architects  failed,  and  at  last  Brown  said  he  had 
a  friend  named  Jones,  who  had  built  several  bridges  and 
undoubtedly  could  build  that  one.  So  Mr.  Jones  was 
called  in.  '  Can  you  build  this  bridge  ? '  inquired  the  com- 
mittee. *  Yes,'  replied  Jones,  '  or  any  other.  I  could 
build  a  bridge  to  the  infernal  regions  if  necessary.*  The 
committee  felt  shocked,  and   Brown  felt  called  upon  to 


480 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


defend  his  friend.  '  I  know  Jones  so  well,*  said  he,  *  and 
he  is  so  honest  a  man,  and  so  good  an  architect,  that  if  he 
states  soberly  and  positively  that  he  can  build  a  bridge  to 

— to ,  why,  I  believe  it ;  but  I  feel  bound  to  say  that  I 

have  my  doubts  about  the  abutments  on  the  infernal  side.' 
**So,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  *' when  politicians  told  me  that  the 
northern  and  southern  wings  of  the  Democracy  could  be 
harmonized,  why,  I  believed  them,  of  course  ;  but  I  always 
had  my  doubts  about  the  *  abutments  '  on  the  other  side." 

Mr.  Lincoln  liked  to  feel  himself  the  attorney  of  the 
people,  not  their  ruler.  Speaking  once  of  the  probability 
of  his  renomination,  he  said  :  ''  If  the  people  think  I  have 
managed  their  '  case '  for  them  well  enough  to  trust  me  to 
carry  it  up  to  the  next  term,  I  am  sure  I  shall  be  glad  to 
take  it." 

Just  previous  to  the  fall  of  Vicksburg,  a  self-constituted 
committee,  solicitous  for  the  morale  of  our  armies,  took  it 
upon  themse'ves  to  visit  the  President  and  urge  the 
removal  of  General  Grant.  In  some  surprise  Mr.  Lincoln 
inquired, ''  For  what  reason  ?  "  ''  Why,"  replied  the  spokes- 
man, *Mie  drinks  too  much  whisky."  "Ah,"  rejoined  Mr. 
Lincoln,  dropping  his  lower  lip.  "  By  the  way,  gentlemen, 
can  either  of  you  tell  me  where  General  Grant  procures  his 
whisky  ?  because,  if  I  can  find  out,  I  will  send  every 
general  in  the  field  a  barrel  of  it !  " 

When  the  telegram  from  Cumberland  Gap  reached  Mr. 
Lincoln  that  "  firing  was  heard  in  the  direction  of  Knox- 
ville,"  he  remarked  that  he  was  "  glad  of  it."  Some  person 
present,  who  had  the  perils  of  Burnside's  position  upper- 
most  in  his  mind,  could  not  see  ivhy  Mr.  Lincoln  should  be 
glad  of  it,  and  so  expressed  himself.  ''  Why,  you  see," 
responded  the  President,  "  it  reminds  me  of  Mistress  Sallie 
Ward,  a  neighbor  of  mine,  who  had  a  very  large  family. 
Occasionally  one  of  her  numerous  progeny  would  be  heard 


LINCOLN'S  BIRTHDAY. 


481 


crying  in  some  out-of-the-way  place,  upon  which  Mrs. 
Ward  would  exclaim,  "  There's  one  of  my  children  that 
isn't  dead  yet." 

A  gentleman  once  complimented  the  President  on  hav- 
ing no  vices,  neither  drinking  nor  smoking.  ♦'  That  is  a 
doubtful  compliment,"  answered  the  President.  **  I  recol- 
lect once  being  outside  a  stagecoach,  in  Illinois,  and  a 
man  sitting  by  me  offered  me  a  cigar.  I  told  him  I  had  no 
vices.  He  said  nothing,  but  smoked  for  some  time,  and 
then  growled  out  :  *  It's  my  experience  that  folks  who  have 
no  vices  have  generally  very  few  virtues.'" 

Mr.  Lincoln's  wit  was  never  malicious  nor  rudely  per- 
sonal. Once  when  Mr.  Douglas  had  attempted  to  parry  an 
argument  by  impeaching  the  veracity  of  a  senator  whom 
Mr.  Lincoln  had  quoted,  he  answered  that  the  question 
was  not  one  of  veracity,  but  simply  one  of  argument. 
"By  a  course  of  reasoning,  Euclid  proves  that  all  the 
angles  in  a  triangle  are  equal  to  two  right  angles.  Now,  if 
you  undertake  to  disprove  that  proposition,  would  you 
prove  it  to  be  false  by  calling  Euclid  a  liar? " 


The  Hon.  Mr.  Hubbard  of  Connecticut  once  called  upon 
the  President  in  reference  to  a  newly  invented  gun,  con- 
cerning which  a  committee  had  been  appointed  to  make  a 
report.  The  ** report"  was  sent  for,  and  when  it  came  in 
was  found  to  be  of  the  most  voluminous  description.  Mr. 
Lincoln  glanced  at  it,  and  said  :  "  I  should  want  a  new 
lease  of  life  to  read  this  through  !  "  Throwing  it  down  upon 
the  table,  he  added  :  ''  Why  can't  a  committee  of  this  kind 
occasionally  exhibit  a  grain  of  common  sense?  If  1  send 
a  man  to  buy  a  horse  for  me,  I  expect  him  to  tell  me  his 
^points' — not  how  many  hairs  there  are  in  his  tail." 

A  JUVENILE  ''  brigadier  "  from  New  York,  with  a  small 
detachment  of  cavalry,  having  imprudently  gone  within  the 


4S2 


THOUGHTS  FOR   THE  OCCASION. 


Rebel  lines  near  Fairfax  Court  House,  was  captured  by 
"  guerrillas."  Upon  the  fact  being  reported  to  Mr.  Lincoln, 
he  said  that  he  was  very  sorry  to  lose  his  horses  !  "  What 
do  you  mean  ?  "  inquired  his  informant.  "  Why,"  rejoined 
the  President,  *'  I  can  make  a  better  brigadier  any  day  ; 
but  those  horses  cost  the  government  a  hundred  and 
twenty-five  dollars  a  head  1 " 

Some  gentlemen  were  discussing  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  pres- 
ence on  a  certain  occasion  General  McClellan's  military 
capacity.  **  It  is  doubtless  true  that  he  is  a  good  *  engineer,*  " 
said  the  President  ;  *'  but  he  seems  to  have  a  special  talent 
for  developing  a  *  stationary '  engine." 

When  Mr.  Lincoln  handed  to  his  friend  Gilbert  his 
appointment  as  assessor  in  the  Wall  Street  district,  New 
York,  he  said  :  **  Gilbert,  from  what  I  can  learn,  I  judge 
that  you  are  going  upon  good  *  missionary '  ground. 
Preach  God  and  Liberty  to  the  *  bulls  *  and  *  bears,'  and 
get  all  the  money  you  can  for  the  government  !  " 

One  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  "  illustrations  "  was  of  a  man  who, 
in  driving  the  hoops  of  a  hogshead  to  *'  head  "  it  up,  was 
much  annoyed  by  the  constant  falling  in  of  the  top.  At 
length  the  bright  idea  struck  him  of  putting  his  little  boy 
inside  to  "  hold  it  up."  This  he  did  ;  it  never  occurring 
to  him  till  the  job  was  done,  how  he  was  to  get  the  child 
out.  "  This,"  said  he,  **  is  a  fair  sample  of  the  way  some 
people  always  do  business." 


Speaking  on  a  certain  occasion  of  a  prominent  man 
who  had  the  year  before  been  violent  in  his  manifestations 
of  hostility  to  the  Administration,  but  was  then  ostensibly 
favoring  the  same  policy  previously  denounced,  Mr.  Lin- 
coln expressed  his  entire  readiness  to  treat  the  past  as  if  it 
had  not  been,  saying,  **  I  choose  always  to  make  my  *  statute 
of  limitations  '  a  short  one." 


LINCOLN'S  BIRTHDAY. 


483 


The  President  was  once  speaking  of  an  attack  made  on 
him  by  the  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the  War,  for  a 
certain  alleged  blunder,  or  something  worse,  in  the  south- 
west— the  matter  involved  being  one  which  had  fallen 
directly  under  the  observation  of  the  officer  to  whom  he 
was  talking,  who  possessed  official  evidence  completely 
upsetting  all  the  conclusions  of  the  committee.  **  Might  it 
not  be  well  for  me,"  queried  the  officer,  "to  set  this  matter 
right  in  a  letter  to  some  paper,  stating  the  facts  as  they 
actually  transpired?"  "Oh,  no,"  replied  the  President, 
"at  least,  not  now.  If  I  were  to  try  to  read,  much  less 
answer,  all  the  attacks  made  on  me,  this  shop  might  as 
well  be  closed  for  any  other  business.  I  do  the  very  best 
I  know  how— the  very  best  I  can,  and  I  mean  to  keep  doing 
so  until  the  end.  If  the  end  brings  me  out  all  right,  what 
is  said  against  me  won't  amount  to  anything.  If  the  end 
brings  me  out  wrong,  ten  angels  swearing  I  was  right 
would  make  no  difference." 

Being  informed  of  the  death  of  John  Morgan,  he  said  : 
"  Well,  I  wouldn't  crow  over  anybody's  death  ;  but  I  can 
take  this  as  resignedly  as  any  dispensation  of  Providence." 

When  General  Phelps  took  possession  of  Ship  Island, 
near  New  Orleans,  early  in  the  war,  it  will  be  remembered 
that  he  issued  a  proclamation,  somewhat  bombastic  in  tone, 
freeing  his  slaves.  To  the  surprise  of  many  people,  on  both 
sides,  the  President  took  no  official  notice  of  this  movement. 
Some  time  had  elapsed,  when  one  day  a  friend  took  him  to 
task  for  his  seeming  indifference  on  so  important  a  matter 
"  Well,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  "  I  feel  about  that  a  good  deal 
as  a  man  whom  I  will  call  Jones,  whom  I  once  knew,  did 
about  his  wife.  He  was  one  of  your  meek  men  and  had 
the  reputation  of  being  badly  henpecked.  At  last,  one  day 
his  wife  was  seen  switching  him  out  of  the  house.  A  day  or 
two  afterward  a  friend  met  him  in  the  street,  and  said  : 
*  Jones,  I  have  always  stood  up  for  you,  as  you  know  ;  but 


484 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


» 


I  am  not  going  to  do  it  any  longer.  Any  man  who  will  stand 
quietly  and  take  a  switching  from  his  wife,  deserves  to  be 
horsewhipped.'  Jones  looked  up  with  a  wink,  patting  his 
friend  on  the  back,  *  Now  dont,*  said  he  ;  '  why,  it  didn't 
hurt  me  any  ;  and  you've  no  idea  what  a. power  of  good  \i 
did  Sarah  Ann?'" 

In  August,  1864,  the  prospects  of  the  Union  party,  in 
reference  to  the  Presidential  election,  became  very  gloomy. 
A  friend,  the  private  secretary  of  one  of  the  cabinet  minis- 
ters, who  spent  a  few  days  in  New  York  at  this  juncture, 
returned  to  Washington  with  so  discouraging  an  account 
of  the  political  situation,  that  after  hearing  it  the  Secretary 
told  him  to  go  over  to  the  White  House  and  repeat  it  to 
the  President.  My  friend  said  that  he  found  Mr.  Lincoln 
alone,  looking  more  than  usually  careworn  and  sad.  Upon 
hearing  the  statement,  he  walked  two  or  three  times  across 
the  floor  in  silence.  Returning,  he  said  with  grim  earnest- 
ness of  tone  and  manner  :  "  Well,  I  cannot  run  the  polit- 
ical machine  ;  I  have  enough  on  my  hands  without  i/iat. 
It  is  the  people's  business — the  election  is  in  their  hands. 
If  they  turn  their  backs  to  the  fire,  and  get  scorched  in  the 
rear,  they'll  find  they  have  got  to*  sit '  on  the  *  blister ' !  " 

Mr.  Lincoln  had  a  dread  of  people  who  could  not 
appreciate  humor.  He  once  instanced  a  member  of  his 
own  cabinet,  of  whom  he  quoted  the  saying  of  Sidney 
Smith,  that  "it  required  a  surgical  operation  to  get  a  joke 
into  his  head."  The  light  trifles  of  conversation  diverted 
his  mind  ;  or,  as  he  said  of  his  theater-going,  gave  him  **  a 
refuge  from  himself  and  his  weariness." 

No  nobler  reply  ever  fell  from  the  lips  of  ruler,  than  that 
uttered  by  President  Lincoln  in  respone  to  the  clergyman 
who  ventured  to  say,  in  his  presence,  that  \\t  hoped  \\\t  Lord 
was  on  our  side."  "  I  am  not  at  all  concerned  about  that," 
replied  Mr.  Lincoln,  '*  for  I  know  that  the  Lord  is  always 
on  the  side  of  the  right.  But  it  is  my  constant  anxiety  and 
prayer  that  I  and  this  nation  should  be  on  the  Lord's  side'' 


LIBERTY  DAY. 

Historical.— The  legislature  of  Massachusetts  at  its  session  in 
April,  1894,  abolished  the  annual  observance  of  Fast  Day,  which  had 
been  kept  for  many  years  as  a  legal  holiday  in  that  State  and  other 
New  England  States  "  as  a  day  of  fasting,  humiliation,  and  prayer," 
and  appointed  in  its  stead  a  patriotic  celebration  to  be  held  on  the 
anniversary  of  the  first  battle  of  the  great  Revolution  that  made 
the  New  World  free  of  the  entangling  alliances  with  Great  Britain. 
The  change  was  caused  by  Fast  Day  falling,  if  not  into  "  innocu- 
ous desuetude,"  into  a  mode  of  keeping  it  totally  out  of  accord 
with  its  original  intent. 

Liberty  Day  will  be  observed  hereafter  in  Massachusetts,  on 
the  19th  of  April,  to  commemorate  the  defeat  of  the  British  forces 
at  Concord,  which  occurred  on  the  morning  of  the  19th  of  April, 
1775  For  the  independence  of  Massachusetts  was  practically 
achieved  on  the  19th  of  April,  I775.  though  it  waited  to  be 
declared  with  that  of  her  sister  States  on  the  4th  of  July,  1770. 
The  causes  that  incidentally  led  the  colonists  to  take  their  stand 
against  the  mother  country  are  many,  the  principal  of  which  are 

the  following :  ,        ,    . 

The  American  colonies  felt  aggrieved  by  their  treatment,  in 
various  ways,  by  Great  Britain.  The  colonists  were  denied  the 
right,  by  the  exercise  of  their  industry,  to  acquire  property  and 
wealth.  Every  species  of  industry  except  agriculture  was  taxed. 
The  only  trade  they  could  pursue  with  a  foreign  country,  without 
taxation,  was  the  traffic  in  negro  slavery.  The  colonies  could  not 
trade  with  each  other  in  woolen  goods  of  their  own  manufacture. 
Every  tree  in  the  woods  suitable  for  a  mast  was  claimed  by  the 
king  and  marked.  They  could  not  export  into  any  British  posses- 
sion, sugar,  molasses,  or  rum,  without  paying  a  duty.  Search  war- 
rants were  issued  in  1761  for  goods  suspected  of  being  imported. 
The  attorney-general  for  the  crown  resigned  his  office  rather  than 
prosecute.  In  1764  Parliament  passed  an  act  levying  duties  upon 
certain  goods  imported  into  America  ;  the  colonists  prote-ted  and 
declared  taxation  without  representation  was  tyranny.  The  stamp 
act  of  1765  imposed  a  duty  on  all  paper,  etc.,  used  in  the  colonies, 
and  required  that  all  business  contracts  be  made  on  stamped  paper. 
In  the  same  year  troops  were  sent  to  the  colonies  to  enforce  these 
laws  and  the  people  were  required  to  furnish  them  with  quarters, 
fuel, 'bedding,  candles,  soap,  etc.,  wherever  they  were  stationed. 
Everywhere  the  colonists  saw  themselves  treated  with  injustice. 
New  taxes  were  imposed  in  1767  on  certain  articles,  among  which 

487 


488 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


LIBERTY  DAY. 


489 


was  tea.  A  Boston  schooner  was  seized  on  the  pretense  that  her 
owner  had  made  a  false  entry;  a  crowd  attacked  the  houses  of  the 
commissioner  of  customs,  and  quarters,  etc.,  were  refused  for  the 
royal  troops.  Sentinels  or  soldiers  were  placed  at  the  corners  of  the 
streets,  who  challenged  the  citizens  as  they  went  about  their  daily 
duties.  The  "Boston  Massacre"  was  the  result.  All  taxes, 
except  on  tea,  were  repealed  in  May,  1770.  An  armed  royal 
schooner,  Gaspe,  was  stationed  in  Nariagansett  Bay  to  enforce  the 
revenue  laws.  The  enforcement  was  carried  on  in  so  insulting  a 
manner  that  the  Gaspe  was  captured  by  the  colonists  and  burned. 
The  East  India  Company  sent  to  Boston  a  quantity  of  tea  in 
several  ships,  the  first  of  which  arrived  in  Boston  on  the  25th  of 
November,  1773,  and  on  the  i6th  of  December,  1773,  forty  or  fifty 
men  dressed  as  Mohawk  Indians  threw  the  contents  of  342  chests 
of  tea  into  the  water. 

In  consequence  of  this  act  the  port  of  Boston  was  closed  by 
Parliament  to  all  commerce,  and  the  seat  of  government  transferred 
to  Salem ;  and  by  another  act  the  liberties  of  the  American  people 
were  placed  at  the  mercy  of  every  petty  official  bearing  a  royal 
commission.  The  Roman  Catholics  of  Canada  were  granted 
unusual  concessions  in  order  to  attach  them  to  the  royal  cause  in 
the  event  of  a  war  between  England  and  her  colonies.  The  clos- 
ing of  Boston  harbor  destroyed  her  trade  and  brought  great  loss 
and  suffering  to  her  people.  Boston  received  many  evidences  of 
sympathy  from  the  other  colonies.  "  The  Regulation  Act,"  passed 
in  May,  1754,  undertook  to  prohibit  town  meetings  in  Massachu- 
setts, annulled  the  charter  of  the  colony,  etc.,  and  placed  all  courts 
of  justice  in  the  hands  of  the  royal  governor.  These  highhanded 
measures  being  resisted  by  the  citizens,  the  number  of  troops  in 
Boston  were  increased  by  Governor  Gage,  who  sent  a  detachment 
to  Quarry  Hill  near  Charlestown  and  seized  a  public  magazine  in 
which  the  province  of  Massachusetts  kept  its  powder  for  its  militia. 
A  congress  of  delegates  from  the  various  colonies  on  the  5th  Sep- 
tember, 1774,  assembled  in  Philadelphia  and  drew  up  a  declaration 
of  grievances  concluding  with  the  words:  "To  these  grievous 
acts  and  measures  Americans  cannot  submit."  Another  measure 
known  as  "  The  New  England  Restraining  Bill "  was  passed  in 
Parliament  early  in  this  year  "  depriving  the  people  of  New 
England  of  the  privilege  of  fishing  on  the  banks  of  Newfound- 
land." General  Gage  resolved  to  take  a  decisive  step.  Having 
learned  that  the  patriots  had  established  a  depot  of  provisions  and 
military  stores  at  Concord,  eighteen  miles  from  Boston,  he  deter- 
mined to  seize  them.  Accordingly  on  the  night  of  the  18th  of 
April,  1775,  he  despatched  a  force  of  eight  hundred  men  under 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Smith,  and  another  company  under  Major  Pit- 
cairn,  and  about  midnight  had  them  conveyed  across  Charles 
River  to  Cambridge,  from  which  place  they  began  their  march  to 
Concord,  to  seize  the  colonial  military  stores  concealed  in  that 
town.    The  warning  of  the  approach  of  the  British  Regulars  under 


Major  Pitcairn,  was  given  by  Paul  Rev^ere,  who  made  his  celebrated 
ride  the  night  of  the  i8th  of  April,  1775,  from  Somerville  to  Con- 
cord, and  called  out  as  he  galloped  along  to  the  inhabitants  resid- 
ing on  each  side  of  the  road,  and  to  those  living  in  the  towns  : 
"  Turn  out,  turn  out !  The  British  are  coming  ;  the  regulars  are 
coming !  "  And  to  the  question  of  one  dame  who  called  from  a  win- 
dow, "  What's  the  noise  ;  what's  the  noise  ?  "  Paul  Revere  replied, 
"  Noise?  there  will  be  noise  enough  before  morning,  the  regulars 
are  coming."  On  the  morning  of  the  19th,  the  British  troops,  hav- 
ing fired  on  and  killed  several  Minute  Men  at  Lexington,  did  arrive 
at  Concord.  The  Minute  Men  of  Concord  "  did  turn  out "  on  that 
day,  the  first  shot  of  the  Revolution  was  fired — "  the  shot  that 
sounded  round  the  world."  The  British  after  a  fierce  but  brief 
struggle  were  defeated,  retreating  over  the  "  old  North  Bridge,"  and 
were  harassed  all  the  way  to  Boston,  where  they  suffered  defeat 
again  ;  and  the  sun  at  its  setting  saw  the  British  forces  in  disas- 
trous rout  taking  shelter  under  the  guns  of  its  men-of-war  in 
Boston  harbor.  This  was  the  occasion  and  the  day  when  liberty 
dawned  upon  the  colonies. 


A  NOTABLE  DAY. 

HON.   MELLEN   CHAMBERLAIN. 

The  19th  of  April,  1775,  was  indeed  a  notable  day,  a  day 
forever  memorable  by  events  of  great  import  to  that  age  and 
people,  and  which  seem  likely  to  affect  the  political  condi- 
tion of  no  inconsiderable  part  of  the  human  race.  It  was 
neither  unexpected  nor  unprepared  for.  The  Provincial 
Congress,  the  ablest  political  body,  as  I  think,  that  ever 
sat  in  Massachusetts,  met  the  impending  crisis  with  a  pre- 
science, wisdom,  and  practical  skill  never  surpassed  and 
seldom  equaled  by  any  similar  body  of  men  known  to  me, 
and  I  think  it  no  exaggeration  to  say  thai  what  was  done 
in  the  little  town  of  Concord  made  possible  what  was  done 
on  the  wider  theater  of  Continental  affairs.  This  is 
apparent  to  everyone  who  reads  the  journals  of  both 
bodies.  And  so  I  think  this  edifice  in  which  the  Pro- 
vincial Congress  sat,  and  in  which  we  are  now  sitting, 
sacred  alike  to  liberty  and  religion,  where  the  foundation 
of  independenoe  was  laid,  should  be  no  less  dear  to  New 


pn 


490 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


LIBERTY  DAY. 


England  at  least,  than  that  hall  in  Philadelphia  in  which 
Independence  was  declared,  July  4,  1776. 

When  I  was  about  twenty-one,  and  Captain  Preston  of 
Danvers  about  ninety-one,  I  interviewed  him  in  his  own 
house  as  to  what  he  did  and  thought  sixty-seven  years 
before,  on  April  19,  1775,  and  now,  fifty-two  years  later,  I 
make  my  report,  a  little  belated  perhaps,  but  I  trust  not  too 
late  for  the  morning  papers. 

"Young  man,"  said  he  to  me,  '*  what  we  meant  in  fight- 
ing  the  British  was  this  :  We  always  had  been  free  and  we 
meant  to  be  free  always."  And  that  is  the  ultimate  philos- 
ophy of  the  American  Revolution. 

The  19th  of  April,  1775,  was  indeed  a  notable  day  in  the 
progress  of  national  autonomy  and  representative  govern- 
ment. Other  days  come  and  go.  Their  sun  rises  and 
hastens  to  its  setting.  But  on  the  19th  of  April,  1775,  no 
second  sun  will  ever  rise.  Its  sun  once  risen  will  never 
set.  It  still  rides  high  and  clear.  Its  prescribed  arc  is  not 
over  the  visible  firmament,  but  over  the  ages. 

Extract  Boston  Joiir7ial. 


491 


AN  APPROPRIATE  NAME. 

EX-JUDGE  HOAR. 

•  Your  excellency  has  fitly  called  it  **  Patriots'  Day."  and 
so  it  is.  But  it  has  no  exclusive  title  to  that  appellation. 
The  17th  of  June  is  a  patriots'  day,  though  the  Connecticut 
general,  Putnam,  commanded  in  part.  It  was  a  patriots'  day 
that  saw  Washington  take  command  of  the  American  army 
at  Cambridge.  Bennington  and  Trenton,  Saratoga  and 
Yorktown^each  furnished  a  day  for  patriotic  memory  and 
patriotic  thanksgiving. 

But  in  each  Massachusetts  participated,  with  others,  in 
the  triumph  and  the  glory. 

The  Fourth  of  July  is  eminently  Patriots'  Day  for  all 
American  citizens.     But  this  day,  the  19th  of  April,  1775, 


has  a  relation  to  Massachusetts  more  intimate  and  sacred 
than  any  other  day  can  have  ;  a  day  on  whose  anniversary 
it  has  been  well  to  provide  by  law  that  her  children  should 
keep  holiday  ;  our  mother's  birthday  :  for  on  this  day,  119 
years  ago,  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  was  born. 

Think  of  it !  Plymouth  and  Massachusetts  were  English 
colonies.  The  province  of  Massachusetts  Bay  was  a  British 
province.  In  the  French  and  Indian  war  our  fathers, 
subjects  of  the  English  king,  served  under  officers  com- 
missioned by  the  royal  governor. 

All  writs  ran  in  the  king's  napae.  On  the  house  where 
the  assembly  of  the  province  met  the  royal  arms  were 
emblazoned  (they  are  there  to  this  day,  like  cannon  captured 
in  battle,  telling  their  story  of  our  victory),  and  the  royal 
flag  waved  over  it. 

The  first  and  second  congresses,  which  were  gathered  here 
to  devise  measures  for  the  defense  of  liberty  in  Massachu- 
setts, when  this  roof-tree  echoed  the  voices  of  Warren  and 
Hancock  and  Samuel  Adams,  were  provincial  congresses. 

It  was  on  such  a  community  that  the  sun  roi^e  on  the  19th 
of  April,  1775.  With  it  rose  the  provincials,  and  the  records 
of  that  day's  deeds  tell  of  the  doings  of  the  provincials  and 
the  regulars. 

That  sun  at  its  setting  saw  the  British  army  driven  as  a 
foreign  enemy  in  disastrous  rout  to  take  shelter  under  the 
guns  of  its  men-of-war  in  besieged  Boston  ;  and  from  that 
beleaguered  camp,  and  the  help  those  guns  afforded,  it  never 
departed,  till  Washington  drove  fleet  and  army  away  together 
in  the  following  March. 

Bunker  Hill  was  but  a  resistance  to  an  American  advance 
which  would  have  made  Boston  untenable. 

The  independence  of  Massachusetts  was  practically 
achieved  on  the  19th  of  April,  1775,  though  it  waited  to  be 
declared,  with  that  of  her  sister  States,  on  the  4th  of  July, 
1776. 

It  was  the  vision  of  the  soon-coming  commonwealth  that 
fired  the  prophetic  soul  of  Adams  in  his  immortal  utter- 


it! 


492 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


LIBERTY  DAY, 


493 


ance  :  "  Oh,  what  an  ever  glorious  morning  is  this  !  "  And 
I  cannot  but  think  that  some  glimpse  of  that  beautiful  and 
majestic  prescience  must  have  illumined  and  cheered  the 
dying  eyes  of  the  martyrs  of  Lexington,  and  of  those  who 
fell  in  the  long  and  bloody  conflict  which  began  at  Concord 
bridge  and  ended  at  Charlestown  neck. 

Extract  Boston  Globe. 


THE  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  THIS  HOLIDAY. 

JUDGE  KEYES. 

The  significance  of  this  holiday  is  its  patriotic  memories. 
Thrice  in  American  history  the  19th  of  April,  has  been 
memorable.  Each  time  it  was  an  uprising,  revolutionary 
and  rebellious.  In  1689,  that  day  saw  Governor  Andros 
deposed  and  confined  in  Boston.  This  was  the  outcome  in 
New  England  of  the  revolution  that  seated  William  and 
Mary  on  the  throne  of  the  Stuarts  in  old  England. 

Eighty-six  years  passed  on  and  this  date  saw  here  the 
beginning  of  a  contest  in  arms  that  ended  in  American 
Independence. 

At  the  North  Bridge  over  yonder  river  was  fired  the 
shot  heard  round  the  world.  The  order  to  fire  that  shot 
was  given  to  British  subjects ;  it  was  obeyed  by  American 
citizens.     This  then  was  the  birthplace  of  American  liberty. 

You  know  the  rest,  in  the  books  you  have  read, 
How  the  British  regulars  fired  and  fled, 
How  the  farmers  gave  them  ball  for  ball 
From  behind  each  fence  and  farmyard  wall. 
Chasing  the  redcoats  down  the  lane, 
Then  crossing  the  fields  to  emerge  again 
Under  the  trees  at  the  turn  of  the  road, 
And  only  pausing  to  fire  and  load. 

The  retreat  of  the  British  troops  that  began  here,  ended 
at  Yorktown.  The  old  North  Bridge  is  the  pivot  on  which 
the  history  of  the  world  since  turns. 


Another  eighty-six  years  passed,  and  this  date  saw  the 
attack  on  the  Middlesex  regiment  of  Massachusetts 
soldiers  by  the  mob  in  Baltimore,  the  outbreak  on  land  of 
the  War  of  the  Rebellion  that  freed  the  slaves. 

What  will  happen  on  this  day  at  the  end  of  another 
eighty-six  years,  in  1947,  it  would  be  vain  to  even  imagine. 
Some  of  those  present  may,  most  of  us  will  not,  see  that  cele- 
bration. Such  having  been  the  events  of  these  three  memor- 
able i9ths  of  April,  it  was  fitting  that  we  should  celebrate 
here  to-day  the  first  time  it  was  made  a  legal  holiday  by 
the  Old  Bay  State.  No  day  in  the  calendar  could  be  more 
appropriately  chosen.  This  town  of  Concord  especially 
recognizes  its  fitness.  Thrice  before  we  have  done  it 
honor  by  oration  and  poem  and  pageant,  and  my  present 
position  may  be  attributed  wholly  to  the  fact  that  almost 
alone  of  our  townsmen  each  of  these  celebrations  is  dis- 
tinctly within  my  memory.  The  orations  of  Edward  Everett 
in  1825,  of  Robert  Rantoul  in  1850,  and  George  William 
Curtis  in  1875  are  eloquent  commemorations  of  the  day  here. 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 

HON.   WINSLOW   WARREN. 

A  LETTER  written  in  the  Revolutionary  period  by  one 
actively  engaged  in  the  struggle  contains  the  words  :  '*  I 
hope  one  thing  will  follow  another  till  America  shall  appear 
grand  before  the  whole  world." 

Turn  to  the  town  of  Dedham.  On  the  day  of  the  fight 
at  Concord  a  messenger  was  dispatched  to  Dedham.  He 
reached  the  town,  gave  the  alarm,  and  four  military  com- 
panies mustered  in  the  different  parishes — three  hundred 
men  out  of  a  population  of  two  thousand,  so  that  practically 
every  able-bodied  man  of  Dedham  started  for  Concord  on 
that  day.  Twenty-three  towns,  at  least,  are  known  to  have 
taken  in  the  fighting  before  the  astonished  and  worn-out 
British  soldiers  reached  the  town  of  Boston.     Such  are  the 


494 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


LIBERTY  DAY. 


495 


scenes  which  this  day — now  wisely  made  a  holiday — recalls. 
To  you  is  handed  down  a  great  trust — to  keep  alive  the 
spirit  of  the  Revolution.  As  a  member  of  an  older  society, 
I  rejoice  in  your  new-found  strength.  These  societies  are 
select  bodies,  in  the  truest,  highest,  best  sense  of  the  word, 
because  they  represent  the  highest  aspirations  and  the 
holiest  associations  of  free  men. 

Extract  Bostoji  Journal. 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  CONSTITUTIONALITY. 

GOV.   GREENHALGE. 

What  is  it  that  gives  this  event  its  importance,  its 
significance,  its  grandeur?  An  event  is  not  so  much  that 
which  has  happened  as  something  that  causes  something 
else  to  happen.  The  Crucifixion  darkened  the  face  of 
heaven,  but  its  results  have  illumined  all  mankind.  The 
battle  at  the  old  North  Bridge  had  little  military  signifi- 
cance, but  it  resulted  in  the  foundation  of  this  great  Repub- 
lic. We  came  here  as  we  may  trace  the  windings  of  a 
noble  river,  from  a  mountain  rill  to  a  mighty  stream,  which 
bears  upon  its  bosom  the  navies  of  the  world.  Here  we 
find  the  beginnings  of  constitutional  liberty. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  go  over  again  the  details  of  this 
story;  you  know  it  by  heart,  the  world  knows  it  by  heart. 
When  that  shot  was  fired  the  standard  of  royalty  went 
down  forever  upon  this  continent,  and  the  first  true  republic 
of  this  earth  arose  before  the  astonished  eyes  of  men.  The 
consequences  of  that  little  skirmish  were  greater  than  those 
of  the  skirmish  on  Charlegrove  Field,  where  John  Hamp- 
den poured  out  his  life.  The  memories  of  April  19  are 
greater  than  those  of  any  other  date  on  the  calendar,  Tliey 
are  not  limited  to  any  one  war  or  any  one  year.  They  tell 
of  liberty  in  '75  and  union  in  '61.  Boston,  Worcester,  and 
Lowell,  alike  step  in  and  claim  their  share  in  Patriots'  Day. 

I  would  not  limit  it  by  calling  it  "  Massachusetts  Day," 


because  it  is  not  limited  to  Massachusetts,  but  will  be  taken 
up  by  every  State  and  Territory  in  the  Union. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  find  any  place  in  the  world 
carrying  a  greater  significance  to  men  than  ancient  Con- 
cord.  Here  liberty  and  literature  walked  hand  in  hand. 
Law  and  order  dwell  here.  Poesy  has  put  her  finest  wreath 
in  the  crown  of  patriotism  in  the  hymn  you  have  just  sung. 
If  the  silent  and  inflexible  figure  of  the  Minute  Man  must 
always  appear  to  stand  guard  at  one  end  of  the  old  North 
Bridge,  surely  the  great  spirit  of  Emerson  stands  sentinel 
at  the  other. 

The  uprising  in  1775  was  no  wild  rebellion,  no  lawless 
proceeding.  It  was  well  ordered  by  keen,  law-abiding  free- 
men. When,  therefore,  men  not  in  sympathy  with  our 
institutions  come  demanding  some  violent  and  radical 
change,  we  must  remember  what  the  men  of  Concord  were 
and  what  they  represented. 

What  is  the  duty  of  patriotism  to-day  }  It  is  not,  thank 
Heaven,  to  march  with  gun  and  sword.  It  is  to  defend  the 
spirit  of  the  law  and  constitution,  to  keep  sacred  the  Com- 
monwealth of  Massachusetts  in  all  its  parts,  in  all  its  rela- 
tions. You  may  not  hear  again  the  wild  gallop  of  Paul 
Revere,  but  Wisdom  hangs  out  her  lantern  from  every 
church,  every  college,  every  school,  and  conscience,  like 
Paul  Revere,  drives  on  and  on,  through  the  night  and 
through  the  day,  to  summon  every  sleeping  force  that 
patriotism  can  command  against  the  midnight  march  of 
corrupt  influences,  against  the  attacks  of  disloyal  traitors 
to  the  institutions  and  the  Constitution  which  we  love. 

This  day  was  consecrated  119  years  ago  by  the  blood  of 
those  who  sleep  here.  I  am  glad  that  industrial  success 
has  left  Concord  in  her  idyllic  condition.  It  seems  provi- 
dential. Let  Concord  and  Lexington  be  regarded  as  the 
Campo  Santo  of  constitutional  liberty  to  which  the  world 
may  turn  for  instruction  and  inspiration. 

My  friends,  in  behalf  of  the  Commonwealth,  I  hail  this 
day.     I  bid  you  Godspeed  and  wish  you  many  anniversaries, 


^!^ 


I}' 


49^ 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION. 


LIBERTY  DAY. 


497 


and  I  hope  that  every  son  and  daughter  will  remain  true  to 
the  principles  for  which  the  forefathers  died." 

Extract  Boston  Journal. 


THE  PROTO-MARTYRS  OF  LIBERTY. 

HON.  J.  C.  BRECKENRIDGE. 

What  plain,  matter-of-fact  people  were  the  actors  here 
less  than  a  century  and  a  score  of  years  ago.  One  must 
smile  at  the  very  sight  of  such  a  scene,  as  the  well  spring 
of  joy  makes  the  heart  sing  with  the  radiant  delights  of  the 
season. 

They  were  the  country  folk  of  their  day,  and  unwittingly 
they  bore  in  their  hardy  hands  the  highest  hopes  of  human 
destiny ;  and  they  were  attending  to  nobody's  business 
except  their  own.  They  gave  all  they  had,  even  their 
lives,  and  in  an  apparently  hopeless  cause,  but  it  was  in 
favor  of  one  of  those  few  causes  that  are  superior  to 
human  life  ;  and  who  among  us  to-day  would  not  glory  to 
have  our  names  numbered  among  "those  few  immortal 
ones  who  are  not  born  to  die." 

It  was  here  that  glory  waited  them,  that  purest  glory  that 
cannot  be  gained  by  seeking,  but  must  come  graciously, 
unsought,  to  crown  a  duty  nobly  done  without  fear,  favor, 
or  hope  of  reward. 

The  men  called  Americans  who  died  here  were  the  proto- 
martyrs  of  a  cult  and  nation  which  unfalteringly  bears  aloft 
a  rare  devotion  to  "  liberty  with  law,"  and  finds  no  sacrifice 
too  great,  no  service  too  arduous,  in  the  name  they  have 
placed  next  to  that  **  Name  which  is  above  every  name  and 
to  which  every  knee  shall  bow." 

Those  who  have  died  for  this  cause  and  country  may 
have  **  builded  better  than  they  knew,"  but  they  knew  they 
did  all  they  could.  And  with  what  they  did  we  are  content. 
The  value  of  their  deeds  is  still  immeasurable  ;  and  this 
spot  illumines  the  very  apotheosis  of  our  humanity. 


An  Oriental  might  well  exclaim  to  us  :  "  Unloose  the 
sandals  from  off  thy  feet,  for  the  soil  thou  standest  upon  is 
holy  ground."  Certainly  it  is  not  less  holy  because  it  is 
homely  and  wholly  our  own. 

There  are  some  things  the  men  of  this  cold  climate,  and, 
perhaps,  colder  generation,  are  still  devoted  to  ;  and  one 
thing  they  love  is  liberty  ;  and  this  is  its  shrine,  "  where 
loyal  hearts  and  true  stand  ever  in  the  light,"  and  those 
who  died  are  blest.  Here  the  fires  of  freedom  are  per- 
petual and  can  never  fail  while  such  hearts  as  these  are 
true  to  God  and  native  land. 

Here  lives  have  been  offered  up  without  stint,  a  free 
offering  for  freedom  and  against  oppression,  and  since  that 
day  when  farmer  in  homespun  and  soldier  in  scarlet  lay  in 
distorted  shapes  along  these  country  roads,  the  round, 
jocund  earth  has  never  been  the  same  ;  the  causes  of  that 
great  contention  have  been  set  in  array  in  every  sphere  of 
life,  and  our  great  nation  has  felt  the  thrill  and  accepted 
once  and  again  the  full  exaltation  and  direful  horrors  of 
righteous  war. 

Where  to  find  peace  for  the  soul,  we  know  ;  and  we  seek 
such  holy  peace  for  both  soul  and  body  as  may  be  honora- 
bly found  ;  but  we  have  never  found  "  life  so  dear  nor 
peace  so  sweet  as  to  be  purchased  at  the  price  of  chains 
and  slavery." 

So  said  our  fathers  and  so  say  we  ;  to  this  these  fields  in 
all  their  calm  delight  cry  aloud  in  proof,  to  which  the 
heavens  and  earth  re-echo  now  forever.  This  nation  lives 
for  no  other  cause,  and  our  children  are  as  ready  as  our 
fathers  were  to  die  for  it. 

The  farmers  and  artisans  who  fought  here  on  the  day  we 
celebrate,  were  the  vanguard  of  a  mighty  host  ;  and  steadily 
since  that  day  sons  of  New  England  have  led  the  van  in 
arts,  in  song,  in  arms,  in  oratory,  in  literature,  in  industry, 
in  thrift,"  in  all  the  qualities  that  do  become  a  man  " — there 
has  been  no  measure  to  their  success.  In  conscience,  as 
in  labors,  they  are  supreme. 


498 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASIOJST. 


LIBERTY  DAY. 


Hence,  as  this  imperial  Republic  grew,  their  "power 
and  potency "  also  had  full  growth  ;  until  to-day  the 
Pleiades  in  their  sweet  influences  are  not  more  glorious  in 
the  heavens  than  the  six  stars  of  New  England  in  the 
starry  union  of  Old  Glory,  with  freedom's  banner  floating 
o'er  us. 

The  universal  Thanksgiving  Day,  Forefathers*  Day, 
and  other  customs  which  have  become  national  to  their 
extremest  details,  indicate  how  we  are  all  led  willing  captives 
to  the  men  of  Massachusetts. 

To  them,  knowing  full  well  the  unheralded  merits  in 
leadership  and  unquestioned  quality  and  valor  of  the 
proud  men  of  my  own  clime,  I  come  from  my  Southern 
home  to  cry  to  you  as  men  of  equal  merit,  All  hail,  most 
worthy  men  !  sons  of  liberty,  all  hail ! 

Extract  Boston  Globe. 


499 


THE  AIM  OF  THE  FUTURE. 

EX-GOV.    ROBINSON. 

The  19th  of  April  is  to  be  hereafter  a  bright  day  in 
the  calendar.  Lapse  of  time  has  not  dimmed  its  glory. 
Wider  and  wider,  as  the  years  have  gone  on  into  the  past, 
has  its  influence  and  its  lessons  demonstrated  their  sway 
over  the  hearts  of  men.  'J'hough  the  great  free  nation  is 
now  the  proud  home  of  multiplied  millions,  though  in  later 
years  the  grandeur  of  the  sacrifice  for  the  preservation  of 
that  Government  which  the  fathers  reared  stands  high  on 
the  record  of  renown,  though  the  clank  of  the  bondsman's 
fetters  is  no  longer  heard  in  America,  and  the  slave  of  yes- 
terday is  the  free  man  of  to-day,  the  veneration  of  a  grate- 
ful people  commands  an  annual  recognition  of  the  unsur- 
passed glories  of  1775.  Now  the  people  of  Massachusetts 
demand  that  the  day  when  the  yoke  of  tyranny  was  broken 
and  the  oppressed  were  set  free  shall  be  consecrated  in  the 
hearts  of  all  who  love  liberty,  and  each  returning  anniver- 


sary shall  be  signalized  in  recounting  the  deeds  done  for 
liberty's  sake.  The  old,  old  story  told  from  sire  to  son 
shall  become  and  remain  as  familiar  as  household  words, 
and  home,  country,  and  liberty  be  all  the  dearer  as  genera- 
tion after  generation  of  patriots  shall  be  reared  and  baptized 
into  the  true  American  spirit  for  the  fierce  conflicts  that 
may  yet  imperil  the  integrity  and  permanence  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. 

To  every  son  and  daughter  of  Lexington  the  associations 
of  to-day  are  priceless  and  sacred.  Turn  as  fondly  as  we 
may  to  the  spot  where  light  of  heaven  first  touched  our 
eyes  and  where  was  the  home  of  our  infancy,  the  soil  that 
was  hallowed  by  the  earliest  sacrifices  for  American  inde- 
pendence and  liberty  is  the  holier  birthplace,  and  is  the 
dear  shrine  of  our  hearts. 

The   fountain  of  perennial  youth  in  a  republic,  is  found 
ma  jealous  regard  for  equal  rights  to  all  the  people  in  sus- 
taming  with  vigor,  honesty,  and  purity  all  the  great  depart- 
ments of  the  Government,  the  legislative,  the  judicial,  and 
the  executive,  and  in    holding  firmly   to  those  principles 
that  underlie  right  action  between  man  and  man  in  harmony 
with    the    love    and  justice  of  God's  reign  on    earth.     So 
governed,  no    free  nation   will   grow  old  or   decay.     The 
traveler  in   foreign  lands  finds  on  every  side  the  ruins  of 
former  greatness,  the  wrecks  of  misguided   purposes,  the 
desolation,  despair,  and   misery  borne  of  the  degradation 
and  enslavement  of  the  people.     But  in  our  own  free  com- 
monwealth and  nation,  no  such  scenes  are  before  us.     They 
bear  no   marks  of  decrepitude  or  decay.     The  fresh,  red 
blood  flows  full  and   free,  and  a  brighter  renewal   repairs 
the  waste  of  years. 

Before  all  her  children,  and  before  all  those  who  love 
her  worth  and  renown,  Lexington  will  ever  be  young. 
She  will  keep  abreast  with  the  grand  march  of  progress,  she 
will  ever  be  mindful  of  the  liberty  and  the  rights  of  man- 
kind, and  she  will  be  blessed  in  her  institutions  and  her 
homes,  because  true  to  the  examples  of  her  patriots,  and 


iife'a€Sfrii^Jti»ifeiiiks»jfetAJeA:)aMiwai^^  \- 


500 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


inspired  by  the  deeds  wrought  out  on  her 
enduring  birthright  of  American  freedom, 
past,  vigilant  for  her  present,  and  confident 
her  sons  and  her  daughters  will  proudly 
glories  and  give  her  the  full  measure  of  their 
and  love. 


soil  for  the 
Revering  her 
of  her  future, 

share  in  her 
filial  devotion 


Oh,  fair  young  mother,  on  thy  brow 
Shall  sit  a  nobler  grace  than  novy, 
Deep  in  the  brightness  of  thy  skies 
The  thronging  years  in  glory  rise, 
And  as  they  fleet, 
Drop  strength  and  riches  at  thy  feet. 

Extract  Boston  Transcript. 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  TRUE  AMERICANS. 

HON.  WINSLOW   WARREN. 

There  cannot  be  too  many  societies  to  perpetuate  these 
memories,  if  they  keep  well  in  mind  the  purposes  of  their 
organization.  They  are  select  bodies,  in  the  best  sense  of 
the  word,  because  they  represent  the  highest  aspirations 
and  the  holiest  associations  of  American  freemen.  To  them 
is  given  in  charge  especially  to  spread  the  feeling  of  true 
Americanism,  not  in  any  party  or  proscriptive  way,  but  that 
Americanism  which  stands  for  high  principle,  for  sound 
methods,  and  for  democracy  founded  upon  the  virtues  of 
its  people.  There  is  need  of  it.  The  future  of  America  is 
not  clear.  We  are  working  out  a  great  principle,  but  are 
surrounded  with  dangerous  quicksands,  and  for  our  success 
as  a  nation  is  needed  all  the  patriotism  and  all  the  wisdom 
that  a  study  of  the  doing  of  the  fathers  of  the  Republic  can 
possibly  furnish. 

Time  was  when  our  people  of  Massachusetts  were  of  one 
blood.  We  have  been  absorbing  new  elements,  many  of 
which  are  strange  and  alien  to  our  form  of  government ; 
and  whether  or  not  we  can  safely  assimilate  these  new  ele- 
ments depends  largely  upon  the  virtue  and  constancy  and 


LIBERTY  DAY. 


501 


labor  of  men  who  can  feel  in  all  its  intensity  the  real  mean- 
ing of  our  Revolution. 

Gatherings  like  these  are  pleasant  to  see,  and  they  are 
useful  in  bringing  together  men  of  common  ancestry  and 
common  purpose,  but  the  test  is  in  the  evidence  you  may 
furnish  in  your  daily  work,  in  your  political  action,  in  your 
performance  of  ordinary  duties  of  American  citizenship,  of 
your  appreciation  of  the  responsibility  your  glorious  descent 
imposes  on  you  all. 

See  to  it  that  these  societies  have  a  real  meaning  ;  that 
each  and  all  of  you  shall  illustrate,  in  his  own  way,  the 
principles  of  those  days  which  cemented  this  union  of 
States  ;  that  this  Republic  shall  grow  in  wisdom  with  its 
growth  in  power,  and  the  future  shall  be  securely  based 
upon  the  immutable  idea  of  justice  to  all  men  and  a 
freedom  which  shall  not  degenerate  into  a  wild  license  of 
democracy. 

Extract  Boston  Herald. 


Patriotism  is  the  passion  which  aims  to  serve  one's 
country,  either  in  defending  it  from  invasion  or  protecting 
its  rights  and  maintaining  its  laws  and  institutions  in  vigor 
and  purity ;  it  is  characteristic  of  a  good  citizen,  the 
noblest  passion  that  animates  man  in  the  character  of  a 
citizen. — N.  Webster. 

It  is  but  justice  to  assign  great  merit  to  the  temper  of 
those  citizens  whose  personal  services  were  rendered  with- 
out restraint,  and  the  derangement  of  their  affairs  sub- 
mitted to  without  dissatisfaction  ;  it  was  the  triumph  of 
patriotism  over  personal  considerations,  and  our  present 
enjoyments  of  peace  and  freedom  reward  the  sacrifice.— G. 
Washington. 


502 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION. 
THAT  LIBERTY  BELL.* 


C.   B.   BROWN. 

I  HEAR  it,  I  hear  it,  that  Liberty  Bell  ; 
It  comes  on  my  ear  like  the  resonant  swell 
Of  the  anthem  of  ocean,  and  bears  the  refrain 
Of  the  freedom  the  nations  are  striving  to  gain. 

I  hear  it,  I  hear  it,  that  Liberty  Bell, 
O'er  hills  and  o'er  valleys  its  melodies  swell  ; 
It  jubilant  rings  at  righteousness  won, 
But  sadly  it  moans  when  evil  is  done. 

It  rang  out  its  joy  at  our  own  nation's  birth  ; 
It  welcomes  the  wealth  of  the  crowns  of  the  earth  ; 
But  its  tones  are  all  muffled  in  sorrow  and  shame, 
At  the  brand  that  it  sees  in  alcohol's  name. 
With  the  nation  as  partner,  our  sons  to  destroy, 
It  sees  all  the  income  that  leads  as  decoy. 

Hear  the  joy  in  its  tones  at  the  beauty  revealed 
If  the  fair  on  our  Sunday  its  glory  concealed  ; 
Its  melody  chimes  at  the  riches  displayed. 
But  mourns  at  the  trust  of  the  nation  betrayed  ! 

Ring  on,  then,  ring  on,  O  Liberty  Bell, 
The  ages  are  waiting  thy  story  to  tell 
Along  with  the  story  of  manger  and  plain, 
Each  waiting  the  other  to  join  the  refrain  ; 
Then  ring  out  the  joy  of  the  glory  to  be, 
When  broken  each  fetter,  each  captive  set  free. 

*•*  It  is  said  that  the  Liberty  Bell  is  cracked  and  cannot  be  rung  ;  the 
last  is  a  mistake — it  is  ringing  yet." — Fourth  of  July  Address  by  Rev. 
H.  M.  Gliddon. 


( 


ORANGEMEN'S  DAY. 

Historical.— Orangeism  designates  the  principle  upon  which  the 
association  of  Orangemen  is  founded,  and  has  for  its  object   the 
maintenance  of  Protestant  tenets  and  the  ascendency  of  Protes- 
tantism in  every  country  where  the  association  exists.    Its  members 
are  the  followers  of  William  III.,  King  of  England  and  Prince  of 
Orange,  who  was  born  November  14,  1650,  and  whose  parents  were 
Wilham  II.,  Stadlhokler  of   tiie   United  Netherlands,  and    Mary 
daughter  of  Charles  I.  of  England.     On  account  of  what  were  con- 
sidered the  unconstitutional  acts  of  James  II.,  King  of  England 
William,  Prince  of  Orange— being,  from  his  descent  and  from  his 
marriage  with  Mary,  elder  daughter  of  James,  Duke  of  York,  in 
November,  1677,  heir  presumptive  to  the  English  throne— issued 
a  declaration,  on  September  30,  1686,  that  he  was  coming  to  Eng- 
land to  secure  the  assembling  of  a  free  parliament,  to  decide  who 
was  to  be  king,  and  by  whose  decision  he  was  resolved  to  abide. 
He  accordingly  sailed  from  Holland,  November  2,  and  in  three  days,' 
November  5,  landed  at  Torbay.     After  some  negotiations  Janies 
fled  the  country  and  went  to  Ireland,  where  for  the  time  being 
nearly  the  whole  island   was  in  suspense  regarding  the  rightful 
reigning  power.     William  arrived  in  London  on  December  19,  and 
at  once  called  a  meeting  of  peers  and  others  who  had  sat  in  the  Par- 
liament during  the  reign  of  Charles  II.     By  their  advice  he  sum- 
moned a  convention,  which  met  on  22d  of  January,  1689,  and  settled 
the  crown  on  William  and  Mary,  who,  after  accepting  the  Declara- 
tion of  Rights,  were  on  13th  of  February  proclaimed  king  and  queen. 
James,  ifr  should  be  remembered,  was  the  representative  of  Roman- 
ism, and  William  of  Protestantism.     William  proceeded  to  Ireland 
and  met  James  in   battle  at  the  Boyne  River,  near  Drogheda,  on 
July  I,  1690,  and  defeated  him.     James  fled  the  country  and  William 
entered  Dublin  in  triumph.     After  this  victory  for  Protestantism 
many  attempts  were  made  by  the  Romanists  to   regain  what  they 
had  lost,  but  the  Protestants  were  on  the  alert  and  formed  combi- 
nations to  maintain  their  ascendency.     These  combinations  were 
first  called  "  Peep  of  Day  Boys,"  but  soon  made  way  for  the  rich  and 
influential  organization  of  the  Orange  Society,  which  by  degrees 
extended  its  ramifications  into  every  portion  of  the  British  empire 
and  into  every  grade  of  society,  from  the  hovel  to  the  very  steps  of 
the  throne.     This  organization  took  its  name  from  and  in  honor 
of  William,  Prince  of  Orange,  who  had  in  Ireland  gained  for  Protes- 
tants the  ascendency  by  the  battle  of  the  Boyne.     The  first  Orange 

505 


iii 


Sit.  :;■  ^'j'^'&ai.^ji.fiij.  ;^iii 


5o6 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


Lodge  was  founded  in  the  village  of  Loughgall,  County  Armagh, 
September  21,  1795.  The  immediate  occasion  was  a  battle  between 
Romanists  and  Protestants  called,  from  the  place  where  it  occurred, 
the  battle  of  the  Diamond.  It  should  be  remembered  that  the 
Romanists  were  greatly  disaffected  toward  English  rule  and  this 
caused  many  to  identify  the  cause  of  disloyalty  with  that  of  Popery. 
In  1798  the  Orange  Society  had  reached  the  dignity  of  a  Grand 
Lodge  in  Ireland,  and  soon  had  its  ramifications  in  all  the  centers 
of  Protestantism  in  the  island.  In  1808  it  extended  to  England. 
A  Grand  Lodge  was  formed  in  Manchester,  but  was  transferred  to 
London  in  1821,  whence  warrants  were  issued  for  the  entire  king- 
dom. The  Duke  of  Cumberland  was  elected  Grand  Master  in 
1827,  and  the  Orange  association  was  propagated  most  vigorously. 
The  only  condition  of  membership  is  that  the  party  should  be 
Protestant  and  eighteen  years  of  age,  and  the  election  to  member- 
ship be  by  ballot.  On  account  of  the  conflicts  that  annually 
occurred  during  the  procession  of  Orangemen  on  the  day  of  their 
celebration,  July  12  (N.  S.),  the  anniversary  of  the  battle  of  the 
Boyne,  an  act  of  Parliament  was  passed  prohibiting  the  processions, 
but  having  failed  to  terminate  the  collisions,  or  for  some  other 
cause,  the  act  was  repealed.  There  is  a  very  large  membership  in 
these  Orange  lodges  in  all  the  English-speaking  countries  under 
British  rule,  and  also  many  thousands  in  the  United  States,  but 
especially  in  British  North  America. 


GENERAL    DECLARATION. 

The  Loyal  Orange  Institution  is  formed  of  persons 
desirous  of  supporting  to  the  utmost  of  their  power  the 
principles  and  practice  of  the  Christian  religion,  to  maintain 
the  laws  and  constitution  of  the  Protestant  country  of 
which  they  are  citizens,  to  afford  assistance  to  distressed 
members  of  the  order,  and  otherwise  promote  laudable 
and  benevolent  and  Christian  charity,  and  the  supremacy 
of  law,  order,  and  constitutional  freedom. 

Its  members  associate  in  honor  of  King  William  III., 
Prince  of  Orange,  whose  name  they  bear,  and  whose 
immortal  memory  they  hold  in  reverence,  tending  as  he  did 
under  divine  Providence  to  the  overthrow  of  the  most 
oppressive  bigotry  and  the  restoration  of  pure  religion  and 
liberty.  They  revere  the  memory  of  that  immortal  prince, 
not  only  as  a  patriot,  a  constitutional  monarch,  and  a  hero, 


ORANGEMEN'S  DA  Y. 


507 


but  as  a  true  Christian  ;  and  hope  in  the  adoption  of  his 
name  to  emulate  his  virtues  by  maintaining  religion  without 
persecution,  or  trenching  upon  the  rights  of  any. 

The  Orange  Institution  lays  no  claim  to  exclusive  loyalty 
or  exclusive  Protestantism,  but  it  admits  no  man  within  its 
pale  whose  principles  are  not  loyal  and  whose  creed  is  not 
Protestant.  Disclaiming  an  intolerant  spirit,  the  Institution 
demands,  as  an  indispensable  qualification,  without  which 
the  greatest  and  wealthiest  may  seek  admission  in  vain, 
that  the  candidate  shall  be  deemed  incapable  of  persecution 
or  injuring  anyone  on  account  of  his  religious  opinions,  the 
duty  of  every  Orangeman  being  to  aid  and  defend  all  loyal 
citizens  of  every  religious  persuasion  in  the  enjoyment  of 
their  constitutional  rights. 

In  many  quarters  where  the  true  nature  of  the  Orange 
Institution  is  not  properly  known,  its  designs  and  objects 
have   by  some   been   misunderstood,  and  by  others   mis- 
represented.    From  the  name  it  bears,  being  connected   in 
everyone's  mind  with  the  history  of  parties  in  Ireland,  some 
are  apt  to  suppose  that  its  sphere  is  necessarily  confined  to 
that  country  ;  not  reflecting  that  an  instrument  which  has 
been  chiefly  used  there  to  suppress  rebellion,  repel  invasion, 
and   secure   domestic  tranquillity,  may  be  found   equally 
efficacious  to  loyal  men  of  all  countries  in  protecting  their 
lives,   liberties,   and    properties.     The   institution  is  con- 
stituted  upon  the  broadest  principles  of  national  freedom. 
It  takes  its  stand  upon  the  glorious  principles  of  the  Revolu- 
tion of  1688  ;  it  lays  its  foundation  in  the  field  of  universal 
liberty  ;  it  disclaims  the  badge  of  faction,  and  knows  no 
emblem  save  *'  For  God  and  the  Right." 

QUALIFICATIONS    ESSENTIAL    FOR    A    MEMBER. 

He  should  have  a  sincere  love  and  veneration  for  his 
Almighty  Maker,  productive  of  those  lively  and  happy 
fruits— righteousness  and  obedience  to  His  commands  ;  a 
firm  and  steadfast  faith  in  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  con- 
vinced that  He  is  the  only  mediator  between  a  sinful  crea- 


M 


N 


508 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


tion  and  an  offended  Creator  ;  and  a  reliance  upon  the 
Holy  Spirit  the  Comforter,  who  can  give  us  strength  to  pass 
through  the  trials  of  this  life,  and  assist  us  in  gaining  that 
life  which  is  to  come.  His  disposition  should  be  humane 
and  compassionate,  and  his  behavior  kind  and  conciliatory  ; 
he  should  be  an  enemy  of  savage  brutality  and  every  species 
of  unchristian  conduct ;  a  lover  of  whatever  tends  to  im- 
prove society,  faithfully  regarding  the  Protestant  religion, 
and  sincerely  desirous  of  propagating  its  precepts,  /.  ^., 
charity  and  good-will  to  all  men.  Zealous  in  promoting  the 
honor,  happiness,  and  prosperity  of  his  country ;  heartily 
desirous  of  success  in  these  pursuits,  yet  convinced  that 
God  alone  can  grant  them.  He  should  have  a  hatred  of 
cursing  and  swearing,  and  of  taking  the  name  of  God  in 
vain  ;  he  should  use  all  opportunities  of  discouraging  pro- 
fanity among  his  brethren,  and  shun  the  society  of  all 
persons  addicted  to  those  shameful  practices.  Prudence 
should  guide  all  his  actions  ;  temperance,  sobriety,  and 
honesty  direct  his  conduct,  and  the  laudable  objects  of  the 
institution  be  the  motives  of  his  endeavors. 


THOUGHTS    PERTINENT    TO    ORANGEMEN'S 

DAY. 

Orangemen  are  Protestants. — Their  order  has  for 
its  aim  to  keep  fresh  in  the  memory  of  mankind  the  great 
deeds  and  the  noble  achievements  of  the  Protestants,  to 
advance  the  beneficent  principles  of  Protestantism,  and  to 
maintain  a  thoroughly  Protestant  manhood,  as  built  on  the 
free  Gospel  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  They  recognize  the 
fact  that  the  true  man  is  the  Christian. 

They  have  in  him  after  whom  their  order  is  named  not 
only  a  splendid  embodiment  of  their  principles,  but  a  con- 
stant inspiration  manfully  to  pursue  the  noble  aim  they 
have  set  before  them.  William  HI.,  Prince  of  Orange,  was 
every  whit  a  man.     He  was  the  soul  of   honor,  and   his 


ORANGEMEN'S  DAY. 


509 


course  was  shaped  by  the  noblest  of  principles.     The  times 
caHed  for  a  man,  and  he  proved  to  be  the  man  for  the  times. 

From  his  early  manhood,  when  he  was  called  to  the  head 
of  affairs  in  the  Netherlands,  and  through  all  the  stormy 
years  that  followed,  especially  in  that  mighty  convulsion 
which  drove  the  Stuarts  from  the  throne  of  England,  and 
placed  him  and  Mary  in  the  seat  of  power,  he  displayed  a 
manhood  so  magnificent  that  it  won  for  him  the  confidence 
and  the  admiration  of  the  world. 

Macaulay  says  of  him  :  *'  His  battles  entitle  him  to  be 
called  a  great  man.  No  disaster  could  for  one  moment 
deprive  him  of  his  firmness  or  of  the  entire  possession  of  all 
his  faculties.  His  defeats  were  repaired  with  such  marvel- 
ous celerity  that  before  his  enemies  had  sung  the  Te  Deum, 
he  was  again  ready  for  the  conflict  ;  nor  did  his  adverse 
fortune  ever  deprive  him  of  the  respect  and  confidence  of 
his  soldiers.  That  respect  and  confidence  he  owed  in  no 
small  measure  to  his  personal  courage.  Courage  like  that 
of  William  is  rare  indeed.'* 

The  adherents  of  William  largely  became  imbued  with 
his  spirit. 

Protestantism  Founded  on  the  Bible.— Protestantism 
plants  itself  squarely  on  an  open  Bible,  and  for  that  reason 
has  rendered  splendid  services  in  the  establishment  of 
modern  liberty.  The  Orange  Society  is  a  Protestant  insti- 
tution ;  it  champions  an  open  Bible,  and  takes  its  principles 
from  the  sacred  oracles.  It  awakens  memories  of  noble 
deeds  done  for  freedom,  inspired  by  the  truths  of  Scripture, 
and  aims  to  further  those  broad  principles  of  civil  and 
religious  liberty  which  have  been  fostered  by  the  spread  of 
Bible  truth. 

Human  Liberty  Promoted  by  God's  WoRD.—These 
truths  reveal  to  man  his  true  worth  and  dignity,  and  militate 
most  powerfully  against  tyranny,  oppression,  and  all  unjust 
laws  and  customs.  They  make  him  acquainted  with  God, 
with  himself,  and  the  exalted  end  of  his  being. 


\ 


5IO 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


The  Bible  makes  all  men  directly  responsible  to  God 
himself  for  their  conduct,  giving  the  king  no  advantage 
over  the  peasant  in  that  respect,  making  it  his  duty  also, 
not  to  do  as  he  pleases,  but  to  do  evermore  that  which  is 
right  in  the  sight  of  God.  It  shows  that  all  men,  as  created 
in  the  image  of  God,  and  especially  as  redeemed  by  Christ, 
are  the  sons  of  God,  and  therefore  brethren,  and,  while  this 
truth  does  not  destroy  due  subordination  within  necessary 
social  and  civic  relations,  it  does  bequeath  on  all  an  equal 
right  within  those  relations  to  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit 
of  happiness,  to  freedom  of  thought,  speech,  and  action, 
and  on  the  ground  of  which  Chatham  forcefully  declared 
that  "  the  poorest  man  may,  in  his  cottage,  bid  defiance 
to  all  the  force  of  the  Crown."  The  Bible  makes  God 
alone  Lord  of  the  conscience.  His  word  our  guide  in 
matters  of  faith  and  duty,  and  Christ  the  supreme  head 
of  the  Church,  who  only  is  to  be  obeyed  in  things 
spiritual. 

Human  freedom  has  ever  attended  the  dissemination  of 
these  truths.  This  is  a  simple  matter  of  history.  From 
the  time  of  Moses  down,  those  peoples  who  have  enjoyed 
the  light  and  guidance  of  the  Word  of  God  have  always 
been  the  freest. 

Modern  Liberty  is  the  Offspring  of  Protestant- 
ism, especially  of  that  form  of  it  which  is  called  Calvin- 
ism, for  the  reason  that  it  was  at  the  utmost  pains  to  bring 
people  under  the  power  of  the  great  truths  of  revelation. 
Up  to  the  year  1500  there  was  not  a  single  free  nation  in 
Christendom  ;  no,  not  on  the  earth,  scarcely  an  individual 
who  had  even  the  semblance  of  liberty.  Romanism,  with 
the  banishment  of  the  Bible,  had  crushed  out  every  form  of 
liberty,  individual,  civil,  and  religious,  as  well  as  liberty  of 
conscience  and  of  opinion.  A  long  line  of  distinguished 
martyrs  testify  to  the  remorseless  cruelty  which  the  Papacy 
employed  to  keep  truth,  light,  and  liberty  from  the  people. 
No  one  dared  to  utter  his  thoughts  openly. 


ORANGEMEN'S  DA  V. 


511 


American  Liberty  the  Result  of  an  Enlightened 
Conscience.— Dr.  Arnot  once  said  that  "  all  the  value  of 
service  rendered  by  intellectual  and  moral  beings  depends 
on  the  thoughts  which  they  entertain  of  God."  That  was 
particularly  true  of  the  men  who,  at  that  time  under  the 
leadership  of  the  Prince  of  Orange,  stood  for  the  defense  of 
human  liberty.  Those  services  derived  all  their  worth  from 
the  great  thoughts  which  they  entertained  of  God  and  his 
truth.  Those  thoughts  tended  inevitably  toward  equality 
in  rights  and  authority,  which  is  the  central  principle  of 
democracy.    • 

The  struggle  for  liberty  in  America  was  conducted  in  the 
same  spirit.     It  was  a  Protestant  movement,  resisted  by  all 
the  might  Romanism  could  exert,  and  was  inspired  by  the 
living  truths  of  the  Bible,  without  which  the  struggle  never 
could  have  succeeded.     John  Quincy  Adams  said  that  the 
early  settlers  of  New  England  were  *^ a  conscience  colony r 
That  was  equally  true  of  the  Dutch  and  Huguenot  settlers 
in  New  York,  and  of  those  from  the  North  of  Ireland  in 
Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  and  the  Carolinas.     The   voice  of 
conscience,  as  enlightened  by  the  Bible,  was  supreme  with 
them.     They  had  strong  convictions  of  truth,  and  as  braced 
by  them,  they  stood  solid  as  the  granite  hills  of  New  Eng- 
land  until  freedom's  battle  was  won.     Their  first  contention 
was  for  religious  liberty.     It  was  that  for  which  they  came 
to  these  Western  shores,  but  the  religious  spirit  carried 
them  forward  to  the  establishment  of  liberty  in  its  fullest 
sense. 


A  New  Day  Dawned  with  the  Rise  of  Protes- 
tantism.—Light  once  more  broke  from  the  divine  oracles 
on  a  world  lying  in  the  darkness  of  slavery,  and  with  the 
light  came  the  breath  of  liberty.  When  Luther  found  the 
Bible  in  the  monastery  of  Erfurth,  both  he  and  it  were 
bound.  But  when  he  had  possessed  himself  of  its  great 
truths,  they  first  made  him  a  free  man,  and  then  he  sent 
those  truths  on  their  mission  of  freeing  an  enslaved  people. 


5^2 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


In  the  light  which  came  from  that  book,  man  discerned  his 
true  dignity,  and  became  conscious  of  his  right  to  think  and 
judge  for  himself  in  all  the  great  matters  of  life  without  let 
or  hindrance  from  priest  or  pope.  And  Bancroft  has  well 
said  :  *'At  Luther's  bidding  truth  leaped  over  the  cloister 
walls,  and  challenged  every  man  to  make  her  his  guest  ; 
aroused  every  intelligence  to  acts  of  private  judgment  ; 
changed  a  dependent,  recipient  people  into  a  reflecting, 
inquiring  people  ;  lifted  each  human  beingout  of  the  castles 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  to  endow  him  with  individuality,  and  to 
summon  man  to  stand  forth  as  man.  The  world  heaved 
with  the  fervent  conflict  of  opinion." 

But  Rome  was  not  inactive.  She  arrayed  herself  against 
this  free  life,  and  endeavored  by  every  device  in  her  power 
to  extinguish  the  light  which  had  been  kindled.  She  for- 
bade the  reading  of  the  Bible  under  the  severest  penalties. 
Some  of  the  noblest  men  suffered  and  died  for  no  other 
reason  than  that  they  insisted  on  reading  and  teaching  the 
Word  of  God.  Macaulay  states  :  "  During  the  last  three 
centuries,  to  stunt  the  growth  of  a  human  mind  has  been 
the  chief  object  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  Throughout 
Christendom,  whatever  advance  has  been  made  in  knowl- 
edge, in  freedom,  in  wealth,  and  in  the  arts  of  life,  has  been 
made  in  spite  of  her,  and  has  everywhere  been  in  inverse 
proportion  to  her  power." 

Bible  Truth  Makes  Stalwart  Men. — The  larger 
portion  of  the  Protestants  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries  were  composed  of  men  and  women  who  consti- 
tuted the  very  nobility  of  God.  In  speaking  of  them 
Froude  says  they  ''  abhorred,  as  no  body  of  men  ever 
abhorred,  all  conscious  mendacity,  all  impurity,  all  moral 
wrong  of  every  kind  so  far  as  they  could  recognize  it. 
They  were  they  who  attracted  to  their  ranks  almost  every 
man  in  Western  Europe  that  hated  a  lie."  Deeply  imbued 
with  the  truths  of  Scripture,  they  had  formed  the  solemn 
conviction  that  it  was  a  Christian  duty  to  resist  every  form 


ORANGEMEN'S  DA  V. 


513 


of  tyranny,  by  all  possible  means,  and  especially  religious 
tyranny.  And  in  acting  on  that  conviction  they  counted 
not  their  own  lives  dear. 

At  the  Diet  of  Worms,  Luther  took  the  stand  that,  unless 
they  showed  him  to  be  in  error  by  convincing  proof  from 
Holy  Scripture,  he  could  not  do  otherwise  than  adhere  to 
his  doctrines  against  both  Pope  and  emperor.  In  that 
stand  he  was  of  such  a  happy  heart  that  when  he  had 
returned  to  his  lodging  place,  he  lifted  up  both  his  hands 
and  cried  out,  "  I  have  done  it,  I  have  done  it,  and  if  I  had 
a  thousand  heads  I  would  lose  them  all  ratherthan  recant!  " 

Romish  and  Protestant  Countries  Contrasted. 

That  modern  liberty  has  resulted  from  the  prevalence  of 
Bible  truth  becomes  still  more  evident  when  we  contrast 
Protestantism  with  Romanism  in  their  relation  to  the  liberty 
and  the  prosperity  of  the  people.  In  Protestant  countries, 
where  the  Bible  is  taught  and  regarded  as  the  rule  of  life  at 
least  in  some  measure,  there  is  a  steady  progress  in  respect 
to  all  social  conditions,  education,  enlightenment,  happi- 
ness,  morals,  and  free  institutions,  while  in  Roman  Catholic 
countries,  where  the  Bible  is  either  banished,  or  its  reading 
discouraged  or  forbidden,  there  is  an  actual  retrograde 
movement  in  all  these  things. 

It  has  been  shown  by  actual  statistics  that  there  is  six 
times  more  of  poverty,  illiteracy,  and  crime  in  Roman 
Catholic  than  in  Protestant  countries.  Protestantism,  with 
its  free  Bible  and  free  Gospel-preaching,  means  light  and 
liberty  ;  Romanism,  with  the  Bible  under  its  ban,  and  with 
the  curse  of  auricular  confession,  everywhere  means  dark- 
ness and  slavery. 

Macaulay's  View  of  Romanism.— Macaulay  has  truly 
said  :  "  The  loveliest  and  most  fertile  provinces  of  Europe 
have,  under  the  rule  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  been 
sunk  in  poverty,  in  political  servitude,  and  intellectual 
torpor,  while  Protestant  countries,  once  proverbial  for 
sterility  and  barbarism,  have  been  turned  by  skill  and  in- 


ifc  ..-■J.^LjA-irii^-aa.,/., 


--"■^-  -- 


-"  *'  "-■ 


^^^M^g 


5^4 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


dustry  into  gardens,  and  can  boast  of  a  long  line  of  heroes 
and  statesmen,  philosophers  and  poets.  Whoever,  knowing 
what  Italy  and  Scotland  naturally  are,  and  what,  four 
hundred  years  ago,  they  actually  were,  shall  now  compare 
the  country  round  Rome  with  the  country  round  Edin- 
burg,  will  be  able  to  form  some  judgment  as  to  the  tendency 
of  papal  domination. 

''The  descent  of  Spain,  once  the  first  among  monarchies, 
to  the  lowest  depths  of  degradation  ;  the  elevation  of 
Holland,  in  spite  of  many  natural  disadvantages,  to  a  posi- 
tion such  as  no  commonwealth  so  small  has  ever  reached, 
teach  the  same  lesson.  Whoever  passes  in  Germany  from  a 
Roman  Catholic  to  a  Protestant  principality,  in  Switzerland 
from  a  Roman  Catholic  to  a  Protestant  canton,  in  Ireland 
from  a  Roman  Catholic  to  a  Protestant  province,  finds  that 
he  has  passed  from  a  lower  to  a  higher  civilization.  On 
the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic  the  same  laws  prevails.  The 
Protestants  of  the  United  States  have  left  far  behind  them 
the  Roman  Catholics  of  Mexico,  Peru,  and  Brazil.  The 
Roman  Catholics  of  Lower  Canada  remain  inert,  while  the 
whole  continent  around  them  is  in  a  ferment  with  Protestant 
activity  and  enterprise." 

General  Grant's  Faithful  Warning.  —  General 
Grant  spoke  the  truth  when  in  1876,  addressing  the  Army 
of  the  Tennessee,  he  employed  the  following  weighty 
language  : 

**  If  we  are  to  have  another  contest  in  the  near  future  of 
our  national  existence,  I  predict  that  the  dividing  line  will 
not  be  Mason  and  Dixon's,  but  it  will  be  between  patriotism 
and  intelligence  on  the  one  side,  and  superstition,  ambition, 
and  ignorance  on  the  other.  In  this  centennial  year,  the 
work  of  strengthening  the  foundation  of  the  structure  laid 
by  our  forefathers  one  hundred  years  ago  should  be  begun. 
Let  us  all  labor  for  the  security  of  free  thought,  free 
speech,  free  press,  and  pure  morals,  unfettered  religious 
sentiment,  and  equal  rights  and  privileges  for  all  men, 
irrespective   of  nationality,  color,  or   religion.     Encourage 


ORANGEMEN'S  DA  Y. 


515 


free  schools^  and  resolved  that  not  one  dollar  appropriated  to 
them  shall  be  applied  to  the  support  of  any  sectarian  school  j 
resolve  that  any  child  in  the  land  may  get  a  common  school  edu- 
cation^ unmixed  with  atheistic^  pagan,  or  sectarian  teaching  ; 
keep  the  Church  and  State  forever  separate.'' 

A  Renewal  of  the  Ancient  Protest  Needed. — 
There  is  a  call  once  more  for  ?nen  who  will  renew  the  ancient 
protest,  and  who  will  resist  great  wrongs  and  stand  manfully 
by  truth  and  righteousness  and  freedom.  And  should  we 
ever  lose  our  free  institutions,  future  generations  will  say 
of  us  that  we  did  not  act  the  part  of  fnen,  as  did  our  noble 
sires,  who  with  great  sacrifice  bequeathed  them  upon  us. 

Who  can  measure  the  value  Luther,  and  Calvin,  and 
Knox,  and  Latimer,  and  Washington,  and  Witherspoon, 
and  Elliott,  and  Lincoln  have  been  to  the  world  ?  David 
Hume  states  of  the  Prince  of  Orange  :  **  He  saved  his 
own  country  from  ruin,  he  restored  the  liberties  of  these 
kingdoms,  he  supported  the  general  independence  of 
Europe  ;  and  thus  ...  it  will  be  difficult  to  find  any  per- 
sons whose  actions  and  conduct  have  contributed  more  emi- 
nently to  the  general  interests  of  society  and  of  mankind." 
Having  played  the  man,  succeeding  generations  have  been 
blessed  by  his  manly  deeds. 


WHY  I  AM  A  PROTESTANT.* 

I.  I  AM  a  Protestant  because  Protestantism  lays  hold  of 
the  true  means  of  spiritual  development,  and  applies  them 
to  the  individual,  and  strives  for  high  spiritual  discernment 
and  deep  intellectual  conviction  in  the  individual  for  the 
attainment  of  its  results,  instead  of  relying  on  a  blind, 
unintelligent  obedience  ;  because  it  encourages  Bible  study 
and  so  gives  me  a  discriminating  conscience,  able  to  guide 
me  in  the  affairs  of  life  ;  because  it  employs  an  intelligible 
language  in  its  services,  and  does  not  confound  spiritual 

*  Prize  answers  to  the  question  from  **  The  Golden  Rule." 


,  I 


m- 


in 


l«l«MMIMt^«! 


5i6 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


devotion  with  non-essential  forms,  or  seek  to  substitute  the 
latter  for  the  former  ;  because  it  worships  only  the  triune 
God,  as  the  Word  commands  ;  because  it  has  no  confes- 
sional, and  does  not  attempt  to  thrust  an  ecclesiastical 
personage  between  me  and  my  God,  but  points  out  my 
direct  responsibility  to  him  and  him  alone.  Protestantism 
does  not  attempt  to  interfere  in  the  affairs  of  state,  and 
does  not  stoop  to  questionable  means  to  secure  to  itself 
temporal  gain,  but  produces  enlightened  Christian  citizens 
whose  devout  and  earnest  hearts  will  prompt  them  to 
guard  their  country's  welfare.  It  fights  the  liquor  traffic, 
and  guards  public  educational  funds  from  sectarian 
plunderers.  Protestantism  alone  accords  with  the  genius  of 
our  republican  institutions. 

Washington,  D.  C.  J.  D.  M. 

2.  I  AM  a  Protestant  because  God  teaches  justification 
by  faith  ;  Rome,  justification  by  works.  God  says  that 
there  is  but  one  mediator,  the  man  Christ  Jesus  ;  Rome 
teaches  a  host  of  mediators,  from  the  Virgin  to  the  last 
canonized  saint.  God  says  that  none  can  forgive  sin  but 
himself  only  ;  Rome's  priests  claim  the  same  power.  God 
forbids  idolatry ;  Rome  fosters  it.  God  says,  *'  Let  the 
word  of  Christ  dwell  in  you  richly  ";  Rome  denies  her 
people  God's  word,  and  teaches  the  tradition  of  her  fathers 
as  equally  authoritative.  God  says  not  to  do  evil  that  good 
may  come  ;  Rome,  the  end  justifies  the  means.  God  says 
it  is  not  good  for  man  to  be  alone  ;  Rome  forbids  her 
priests  to  marry.  God  forbids  speaking  in  an  unknown 
tongue  without  an  interpreter  ;  Rome  conducts  her  wor- 
ship in  Latin.  God  teaches  the  receiving  and  dwelling 
with  Christ  of  the  souls  of  believers  at  death  ;  Rome 
teaches  a  place  of  purgation  from  which  the  longest  purse 
reaches  heaven  first.  God  says  that  "  One  is  your  master, 
even  Christ  ";  Rome  exalts  a  mere  man  to  be  a  vice-God. 
God  says  that  his  law  is  perfect  ;  Rome's  Pope  can  add  to 
or  abrogate  the  Ten  Commandments  on  occasion. 

Cedar  Rapids,  Ia.  Mrs.  W.  L.  R. 


I 


ST.  PATRICK'S  DAY. 

Historical.— There  is  much  uncertainty  about   the  place  and 
date  of  the  birth  of  this  so-called  apostle  of  Ireland.     His  birth  has 
been  assigned  to  the  year  377,  to  387.  and  396,  of  which  the  last  is 
the  most  probable.     Of  the  place,  it  is  only  known  for  certain,  from 
his  own  confession,  that  his  father  had  a  small  farm  near  Bonaven 
labernia,  which  was  likely  a  place  in  the  estuary  of  the  Clyde 
Scotland,   called   from    him    Kilpatrick,   at   or   near   the   modern 
Dumbarton.     Patrick  tells  us  that  his  father  was  a  deacon  named 
Calpurnius.  and  others  say  that  his  mother's  name  was  Conchez  or 
Lonchessa      Patrick's  original  name  is  said  to  have  been  Succat 
Patncius  being  the  Roman  appelative   by  which  he  was  known' 
In  his  sixteenth  year  he  was  seized  while  at  his  father's  farm  bv  a 
band  of  pirates  and,  with  a  number  of  others,  was  carried  to  Ire- 
land  and  sold  to   a  petty   chief,  in    whose   service   he   remained 
for  six  years,  tending  cattle  probably  on  Slemish  Mountain,  County 
Antrim,  where  he  was  much  given  to  prayer  and  meditation.     At 
the  close  of  these  years  he  effected  his  escape,  and  sailed  in  a 
vessel  from  Killala  Bay,  and  after  sixty  days  got  back  to  his  family. 
Atter  his  escape,  he  appears  to  have  conceived  the  noble  idea  of 
devoting  himself  to  the  conversion  of   the  Irish   to  Christianity. 
Patrick  himself  tells   us  that  a  few  years  after  his   escape   he 
was   among  the  Britons  with   his   kindred  who  received  him  as 
a  son.  and  who  besought  him   not    to   part    from    them   a^ain 
But  he  was  evidently    bent   upon    his  mission,  and   was   so   full 
ot  it,  that  he  dreamt  that  a  man  whose  name  was  Victorious  came 
to  him  bearing  innumerable  letters,  one  of  which  he  received  and 
T^^  I  '..     x,^uT""'''§^  ""^  '^  contained  the  words.  "  The  voice  of  the 
Irish        While  repeating  these  words,  he  says,  "  I  imagined  that  I 
heard  in  my  mind  the  voice  of  those  who  were  near  the  wood  of 
I'ochlad.  which  is  near  the  Western  Sea,  and  thus  they  cried  *  We 
pray  thee,  holy  youth,  to  come  and  henceforth  walk  among 'us  '  " 
This  wood  was  probably  in  the  neighborhood  of  Killala  Bay.  where 
he  remained  concealed  while  waiting  for  a  boat  to  make  his  escape 
from  slavery.     This  dream  was  followed  by  others  of  a  similar 
character,  showing  how  completely  his  mission  had  possession  of 
his  mind.     He  returned  to  Ireland  when  about  thirty  years  of  a^e 
and  entered  upon  his  work  of  preaching  the  Gospel.     There  is  no 
evidence  whatever  that  he  was  ordained  by  any  man  or  body  of 
men.     He  seems  to  have  been  designated  to  his  work  by  God.     In 
his  work  in  Ireland  he  adopted  the  expedient  of  first  addressing 
the   chiefs,  improving  as   far  as   possible   the   spirit   of  clanship 

519 


/ 


520 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


and  other  existing  usages,  and  in  this  way  preparing  them  for  the 
proclamation  of  Christian  truth.     He  visited  a  large  portion  of  the 
island,  baptized  many,  both  of  the  chieftains  and  of  the  people,  and 
seized  every   opportunity  of  a  local   gathering   of   the  people  to 
preach  to  them.     A  large  number  of  rude  places  of  worship  were 
erected  under  his  superintendence,  where  the  adherents  of  the  new 
faith  gathered    and   strengthened   one   another  by   counsel.     He 
educated  many  of  these  converted  people  to  preach  the  Gospel, 
establishing  them,  where  he  could,  in  groups  for  that  purpose,  and 
thus  laying  the  foundation  of  a  series  of  schools  of  the  prophets, 
which,  after   Patrick's   decease,  formed   a  sort   of   network  over 
the  land.     In  time  these  schools  of  learning  became  even  more 
famous  than    those   on   the  Continent,  and   foreign   ecclesiastics 
visited  them  in  large  numbers  for  the  sake  of  their  teaching  and 
libraries,  and  to  witness  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  Church  in 
Ireland.      These   schools  sent   out    some  of  the    most   famous 
preachers  and  scholars  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  their  missionaries 
went  to  all  parts  of  the  Continent.     In  Patrick's  writings  there  is 
no  trace  of  clerical  celibacy,  of  purgatory,  of  the  adoration  of  the 
Virgin  Mary,  or  transubstantiation,  or  of  the  authority  of  the  Pope. 
It  is  conjectured  that  he  died  on  the  17th  of  March,  493,  and  was 
buried  at  Downpatrick,  in  County  Down,  Ireland,  where  an  effort 
has  been  recently  made  to  build  a  monument  to  his  memory. 


LESSONS   FROM    ST.    PATRICK'S   CHARACTER 

AND   WORK. 

DR.    EDWARD    M'GLYNN. 

I  FEEL  that  it  is  hardly  fitting  that  on  the  anniversary  of 
that  great  man  who  bore  the  light  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ 
and  the  warmth  of  the  charity  of  Christ's  heart  to  a  nation 
should  be  celebrated  by  us  merely  in  talking  about  the 
horrors  of  anything.  You  will  bear  with  me,  then,  if  I  say 
something  about  the  character  of  that  great  saint,  if  I 
say  something  of  the  people  to  whom  he  was  sent  a  mis- 
sionary, while  I  shall  not  entirely  neglect  to  show  how  the 
rapacity  and  inhumanity  of  man  to  man,  of  brother  to 
brother,  of  sister  nation  to  sister  nation,  has  brought  about 
horrors  unspeakable,  miseries  that,  strange  to  say,  were 
inflicted  upon  a  Christian  people,  not  by  barbarian  invaders, 
but  by  men  kneeling  before  the  same  altars,  invoking  the 
same  saints,  praying  to  the  same  God.  We  surely  can 
draw  a  lesson  pregnant  with  instruction  for  all,  no  matter 


ST,   PA  TRICK'S  DA  V. 


521 


what  the  place  of  their  nativity,  no  matter  what  the  race 
from  which   they  have  sprung,  from  a  brief  review  of  the 
life  of  the  great  apostle,  and  of  the  history  of  the  nation 
whom  he  blessed  by  making  it  the  depository  of  his  doc- 
trines and  witness  to  all  future  time  of  his  holy  example. 
It  is  customary  on  this  day  to  rehearse  the  history  of  the 
Irish  people,  to  go  over  the  sad  catalogue  of  the  miseries 
that  that  people  have  endured  and  to  give  voice  to  the 
agony  of  the  Irish  heart  over  the  sorrows  of  so  many  cen- 
turies.    Again,  it  is  the  custom  to  express  gratitude  to  God 
and  good  will  to  men,  after  a  prayer  before  the  altar,  by 
social  entertainment,  by  innocent   merriment.     Far  be  it 
from  me  to  forbid  innocent  merriment  ;    rather  should  we  re- 
member the  touching  humanity  of  Christ's  apostle,  St.  Paul, 
who  tells  us  to  rejoice  that  we  have  a  Father  in  heaven  who 
wishes  that  we  should  be  happy  and  who  fills  us  with  food 
and  gladness.     It  is  not  for  me,  therefore,  to  have  any  words 
of  rebuke  for  St.  Patrick's  Day  banquets,  for  the  processions 
and  celebrations  of  whatsoever  character,  provided  they  be 
innocent,  provided  they  tend  to  recall  glorious  memories, 
provided  they  help  to  suggest  noble  resolves,  provided  the 
celebration  of  the  memory  of  a  saint  has  nothing  ungodly 
in  it,  provided  the  celebration  of  one  so  consecrated  to  God 
shall  not  be  desecrated  by  anything  unworthy  of  a  Christian. 
It  is  not  a  bad  thing,  it  is  an  exceedingly  good  thing, 
that  on  this  one  day  of  the  year  at  least,  people  of  Irish 
nativity  and   race,   with  guests   of   other   nations,  should 
assemble  around  the  festive  board  and  in  the  lecture  hall  to 
hear  something  that  shall  take  them  out  of   the  ruts  of 
to-day,  take  them  away  from  the  miserable,  selfish  thought 
of  their  business,  of  their  own  even  laudable,  though  at  the 
same  time  petty,  domestic  cares,  and  remind  them  of  their 
ancestors,  to  tell  them  something  of  the  place  of  their  race 
and  nation  in  the  history  of  the  world,  and  in  the  work 
that  the  universal  Father  surely  has  to  do  for  each  of  the 
races  that  he  has  placed  upon  earth  as  he  has  given  work 
for  each  of  the  individual  children  that  he  sends  into  the 


m 


11 V    f 


522 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


world.  It  is  a  good  thing  for  them  to  revive  the  memory 
of  their  history,  to  be  filled  with  a  noble  emulation  of  the 
glories  of  their  fathers  that  shall  make  them  examine  their 
own  consciences,  as  it  were,  to  see  whether  they  are  degen- 
erate sons  of  illustrious. sires,  shall  inspire  them  with  a  firm 
resolve  to  transmit  to  a  remote  posterity  the  blessings  of 
religion  or  character  of  whatsoever  kind  they  have  inherited 
from  their  fathers.  And  it  is  peculiarly  pleasing  for  us  in 
this  sweet  land  of  America,  in  this  our  beloved  country, 
where  Celt  and  Saxon  and  Latin  come  together  to  form 
the  magnificent  race  of  the  future,  that  shall  be,  we  may 
well  believe,  the  race  that  shall  dominate  the  world  and 
hasten  and  make  speedier  the  coming  of  the  day  foreseen 
by  the  poet  and  prayed  for  by  sage  and  saint,  when  the 
whole  human  family  shall  be  literally  one,  and  when  wars 
shall  cease  among  men,  when  the  miserable  race  prejudices 
shall  be  things  of  the  barbarous  past  and  the  whole  world 
shall  be  composed  of  one  magnificent  family  of  which  the 
various  nations,  if  they  shall  still  retain  their  individuality, 
shall  be  but  members,  speaking  one  language,  largely 
assimilated  in  blood,  and  with  no  rivalry  but  the  magnificent 
holy  emulation  to  show  forth  the  glory  of  the  Father  by  the 
wondrous  work  of  the  heart  and  hand  of  his  human  children. 
It  is  creditable  to  the  people  of  Ireland  that  their  civil 
holiday  is  a  religious  holiday,  and  it  is  a  holiday  that  com- 
memorates the  virtues  of  the  man  that  taught  their  fathers 
the  Gospel  of  Christ.  We  have  not  a  very  copious  history 
of  this  man,  and  yet  I  think  we  know  quite  enough  about 
him  to  justify  us  in  saying  that  he  was  mentally  and 
morally  of  a  gigantic  stature.  There  is  no  reason  to 
believe  that  he  was  an  eminent  scholar,  that  he  was  a  great 
inventive  genius  ;  but  yet  he  was  one  of  those  rare  men 
that  rise  once  or  so  in  a  century,  sent  as  truly  as  those  of 
whom  we  read  in  Holy  Writ,  of  whom  it  is  said  :  "  There 
was  a  man  sent  of  God."  When  the  last  page  of  the  New 
Testament  was  written  surely  God's  hands  were  not  tied, 
and  to  every  age  in  every  great  emergency,  wherever  there 


ST.    PATRICK'S  DAY. 


523 


are  children  of  God  to  be  saved,  where  liberty  is  to  be 
maintained,  where  the  world  seems  ready  to  perish  by  the 
weight  of  its  sins  and  woes,  there  always  has  been,  there 
ever  shall  be,  in  the  very  nick  of  time,  some  man  sent  of 
God.  Here  was  a  nation  inhabiting  an  island  that  to  the 
then  civilized  world  seemed  to  be  of  goodly  size,  an  island 
the  westernmost  of  the  lands  of  Europe,  an  island  that  by 
some  strange  fate  had  never  been  subjected  to  the  all- 
conquering  yoke  of  mighty  Rome.  As  the  wondrous 
empire,  the  greatest  that  the  world  had  hitherto  seen,  but 
an  empire  speedily  to  be  distanced  by  this  American 
empire,  and  still  more  by  the  world-wide  English-speak- 
ing commonwealth  that  shall  form  speedily  the  united 
states  of  the  world— as  the  mighty  empire  of  the  olden 
time  was  falling  to  pieces  by  its  very  weight,  by  the  canker 
that  had  eaten  out  its  heart,  by  the  dissolute  lives  of  its 
rulers  and  its  people,  as  barbarians,  strange,  uncouth  of 
tongue  and  manner,  were  destroying  Roman  temples,  pal- 
aces, and  tribunals,  as  religion  seemed  almost  ready  to  be 
ground  in  the  general  wreck— from  the  outskirts  of  that 
Roman  empire,  as  yet  scarcely  half  Christianized,  though 
it  was  more  than  a  century  after  Constantine's  time,  there 
went  a  captive  youth  into  Ireland,  an  unwilling  visitor,  a 
slave.  And  for  many  years  he  underwent  all  manner  of 
hardships  in  the  menial  employment  of  tending  brute  beasts, 
a  swineherd  on  the  mountain  side  over  which  he,  like  the 
prodigal  of  old,  was  an  exile  from  his  father's  house. 

This  man  was  to  be  the  future  apostle  of  Ireland.  It 
was  by  the  wondrous  discipline  that  he  underwent  for  years 
on  the  bleak  mountain  side,  and  the  voluntary  introspection 
and  self  denial,  the  long  prayers  and  communing  with  God, 
that  the  orphan,  robbed  of  home,  country,  and  friends,  not 
treading  the  primrose  path  of  idleness,  but  the  thorny  path 
that  leads  to  the  summit  of  Golgotha,  was  preparing  in  the 
depths  of  his  own  heart  foundations  that  should  be  deep  and 
strong  enough  to  bear  the  mighty  edifice  that  should  outlast 
the  ages — the  edifice  of  the  Christian  faith  of  a  whole  nation, 


II 


524 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


of  a  whole  race  destined  in  after  years  to  spread  over  the  civ- 
ilized world,  and  wherever  it  should  be  to  bear  reverently  and 
lovingly  in  head  and  heart  the  name  of  the  Apostle  Patrick. 

And  after  long  captivity  enabled  to  escape,  he  desired  to 
return  a  voluntary  exile,  no  longer  coerced  by  whip  or  lash, 
but  urged  and  goaded  by  the  overwhelming  charity  of  Christ 
and  love  of  mankind,  the  desire  to  be  a  benefactor  to  the 
very  people,  some  members  of  which  had  treated  him  very 
cruelly.  He  desired  to  return  good  for  evil.  He  desired  to 
make  that  people  a  Christian  people.  When  this  man 
went  to  Ireland,  his  success,  we  are  told  by  all  manner  of 
traditions,  was  something  phenomenal.  During  his  life- 
time, which,  according  to  all  accounts,  was  exceedingly 
protracted,  so  that  he  lived  to  be  a  centenarian,  he  accom- 
plished the  work  of  the  almost  total  conversion  of  the  Irish 
people  to  the  Christian  faith. 

We  read  that  as  the  venerable  Patrick  was  about  to  die 
he  prayed  that  the  people  so  dear  to  him,  whatever  else 
should  befall  them,  should  never  prove  traitors  to  God, 
should  never  forsake  the  Christian  faith  that  he  had  taught 
them.  It  would  seem  that  his  prayer  was  granted.  But  it 
was  a  very  great  boon  that  he  asked.  Surely  we  must  all 
agree  that  such  gifts  have  to  be  purchased  at  a  terrible 
price.  And  what  is  the  price  that  the  nation  or  the  indi- 
vidual must  pay  for  supreme  adherence  to  truth,  to  justice 
anywhere,  everywhere  ?  It  is  the  sacrifice  of  all  else  either 
in  spirit  or  in  fact.  The  man  who  is  not  prepared  to  sacri- 
fice home,  father,  mother,  sister,  brother,  wife  and  children, 
land  and  liberty  and  life  itself,  to  mount  the  scaffold,  to  be 
decapitated,  to  pine  for  dreary  years  in  a  dungeon,  to  suffer 
anything  rather  than  betray  the  truth,  is  no  man.  And  so 
it  would  seem  that  the  Father  said  to  Patrick,  "  Your  prayer 
shall  be  granted  if  you,  spokesman  for  this  people,  are 
willing  to  swear  that  they  shall  pay  the  price — that  they 
shall  be  willing  to  give  up  land  and  language  and  liberty 
and  life  itself  rather  than  sacrifice  what  they  believe  to  be 
their  duty  to  God." 


ST.   PA  TRICK'S  DA  V. 


525 


Now  who  was  this  man  that  thus  became  the  spokesman 
of  the  Irish  people.  This  man  was  not  a  native  of  Ireland. 
There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  he  was  partly  of  a 
kindred  race,  something  of  a  Frenchman  by  his  mother's 
side  ;  and  it  may  be  news  to  a  good  many  people  here  that 
he  was  something  of  a  German  by  his  father's  side.  There 
is  excellent  reason  for  believing  that  St.  Patrick's  father 
was  a  Teuton.  There  is  a  place  on  the  Clyde  known  at  the 
present  time  as  Kilpatrick,  very  near  to  Dumbarton,  which 
was  a  stronghold  of  the  Romans.  There  is  excellent  reason 
to  believe  that  St.  Patrick's  father  was  there  in  garrison 
and  had  a  private  residence  at  Kilpatrick  within  a  short 
distance  of  the  fortress.  There  the  future  apostle  of  Ireland 
was  born,  somewhere  about  the  end  of  the  fourth  century. 
It  was  from  his  native  shore,  almost  within  sight  of  Ireland, 
that  he  was  kidnaped  by  certain  pirates  and  brought  a 
slave  to  Ireland.  This  man  was  a  stranger  to  Ireland,  and 
his  whole  career  is  an  admirable  illustration  of  that  self- 
sacrifice  characteristic  of  those  who  would  serve  mankind. 

It  is  somewhat  suggestive  that  the  Apostle  of  Ireland 
was  himself  a  foreign  born  citizen.  He  acquired  a  better 
right  to  speak  for  Ireland  than  any  man  that  was  ever 
born  in  it,  before  or  since.  And  that  should  be  a  lesson  to 
moderate  certain  Irish  patriots  who  would  have  it  that  there 
is  nothing  good  that  does  not  come  from  Ireland.  There 
are  good  things,  always  have  been  and  always  will  be,  out 
of  Ireland,  as  well  as  every  country,  as  well  as  in  it,  and 
while  it  is  permissible  for  us  on  this  one  day  of  the  year 
to  blow  our  own  horn  a  little,  it  is  well  for  us  to  be  modest 
enough  to  acknowledge  and  to  be  thankful  for  the  apostle 
who  was  not  an  Irishman  and  yet  was  the  best  Irishman 
that  ever  lived.  T/ie  Mail  and  Express. 

The  Doctrines  held  by  St.  Patrick. — Two  classes 
of  readers  of  St.  Patrick's  *'  Confessions  "  will  be  disap- 
pointed. The  first  includes  those  who  look  for  the  dis- 
tinctive doctrines  held  at  a  later  time  by  the  Church  of 


526 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION, 


Europe  and  set  aside  by  the  Reformers.  They  are  not  in 
his  "Confessions."  The  second  class  includes  those  who 
expect  to  find  in  his  writings  protests  against  these  doc- 
trines. They  are  not  there,  and  why?  Because  they  were 
not  then  held  and  formulated  so  as  to  call  for  protest. 

What  then  was  his  claim  to  honor  and  grateful  memory? 
His  disinterested  labor  for  the  pagan  Irish,  among  whom 
he  had  been  a  slave  ;  his  patient  endurance  of  hardship 
and  opposition,  his  faithful  following  of  what  he  believed 
to  be  the  leading  of  Providence,  his  unaffected  modesty 
and  lowly  estimate  of  himself,  and  his  intelligent  effort  to 
give  to  the  people  an  educated  body  of  teachers,  who  did 
so  continue  their  work  as  to  develop  a  healthy  missionary 
church— these  are  his   claims  to   regard   and  veneration. 
**  Patrick  himself,"  says  Professor  Fisher  of  Yale,  "  was  not 
a  learned  man,  but  those  cloisters  became  centers  of  Chris- 
tian learning  and  devotion,  whose  influence  was  felt  through 
the  Middle  Ages  and  in  distant  parts  of  the  world."     These 
"cloisters,"  Professor  Fisher  says,   "were  established  on 
lands  given  by  a   grateful  people."      They   came   to   be 
counted  as  "  cloisters  "  at  a  later  time.     They  were  at  first, 
probably,  like  our  "  Lay  colleges"  and  primitive  seminaries, 
in  which  unmarried  young  men  studied  for  the  ministry, 
for  St.  Patrick  made  the  land  the  "  island  of  saints,"  from 
which  missionaries  went  to  England,  as  Columba  did  to  the 
Northern  Picts.     So  Dr.  Fisher,  who  is  not  an  Irish  partisan, 
but  a  candid   historian,  tells  us  that  "the  Irish   cloisters, 
still  famous  for  learning,  continued  to  attract  many  English 
youth,    until    Theodore  of    Tarsus,  a   man   of    scholarly 
abilities,  was  sent  to  England  as  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
to  confirm  the  Roman  hierarchy  and  to  introduce  schools." 
This  "confirmation"  was  not   effected  in  Ireland  until 
Ireland  was  given  to  the  English  king  by  an  authority  now 
counted  infallible,  and  England  has  had  a  thorn  in  her  side 
ever  since.     What  a  pity  that  Ireland  did  not  keep  on  the 
lines   laid    out   by  him   whom  she  took   as   her   "  patron 
saint"  !  Dr.  John  Hall,  in  Mail  and  Express, 


TEMPERANCE    SERVICE. 

Historical. — The  origin  of  the  temperance  reform  movement  may 
be  traced  to  a  Congregational  community  in  Moreau,  N.  Y., 
where  the  first  temperance  society  in  the  world  was  organized  in 
1808  ;  followed  in  18 10  by  a  series  of  temperance  sermons  preached 
by  Rev.  Herman  Humphrey,  a  Congregationalist,  and  in  1812  by 
"Six  Sermons  on  Intemperance  "  delivered  by  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher 
In  Litchfield,  Conn.  In  the  same  year  he  brought  in  a  report 
before  the  Connecticut  Congregational  Association  in  which  he 
boldly  took  the  then  novel  and  radical  ground  that  all  minis- 
ters should  preach  against  the  drinking  custom,  and  that  all 
church  members  should  abstain  from  using,  selling,  or  buying 
intoxicants  ;  that  farmers  exclude  liquors  from  their  fields,  and 
parents  from  their  families,  and  that  temperance  societies  be 
organized  in  every  community. 

The  progress  of  this  reform  was,  however,  comparatively  slow. 

Edward  C.  Delevan  of  Albany,  in  1828,  abandoned  his  business  as 
a  wine  merchant,  and  used  the  money  he  had  made  thereby  in 
waging  a  warfare  against  intoxicating  drink  in  all  its  forms,  and 
in  expending  large  sums  of  money  in  the  circulation  of  temperance 
journals  and  of  anatomical  plates  exhibiting  the  ravages  of  alcohol 
on  tlie  human  stomach. 

Dr.  George  B.  Cheever,  pastor  of  a' Congregational  church  in 
Salem,  Mass.,  published  in  1835,  in  a  Salem  newspaper,  "  Deacon 
Giles'  Distillery,"  a  bitterly  satirical  allegory  which  had  a  wonder- 
ful popularity,  but  for  which  he  was  prosecuted  and  imprisoned 
for  thirty  days.  This  imprisonment,  however,  advertised  the 
scathing  satire,  and  sent  "  Deacon  Giles  "  and  his  abominable 
still-house  on  the  wings  of  the  wind  over  the  whole  land. 

In  1838,  Rev.  Theobald  Mathew,  or,  as  he  is  commonly  called, 
Father  Mathew,  or  the  Apostle  of  Temperance,  established  an 
association,  on  the  principle  of  total  abstinence,  in  the  city  of  Cork, 
Ireland,  which  in  less  than  nine  months  numbered  150,000  mem- 
bers in  that  city  alone,  and  was  extended  to  the  adjacent  districts 
of  Limerick  and  Kerry.  The  popularity  of  the  movement  was 
unparalleled,  as  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  20,000  persons  took 
the  pledge  at  Nenagh  in  one  day,  100,000  persons  at  Galvvay  in 
two  days,  and  70,000  at  Dublin  in  five  days.  The  great  centers  of 
population  both  in  the  south  and  north  of  Ireland  were  visited 
by  this  remarkable   temperance   advocate  with   similar   success. 

Glasgow  in  Scotland  was  visited  by  him  in  1842,  where  he  was 

529 


i 


f 

i 


''W«!pW^>JM^pi"«'^y  ■■ 


530 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


met  by  50,000  persons  on  the  Green  and  where  he  administered 
the  pledge  of  total  abstinence  to  thousands  who  knelt  on  the 
ground  in  platoons,  over  whose  necks  a  small  medal  attached  to 
a  cord  was  placed,  and  on  the  head  of  each  he  placed  his  hand 
and  pronounced  a  brief  benediction.  With  almost  equal  success 
he  visited  Liverpool,  Manchester,  and  London,  and  in  1849  the 
United  States.  It  is  computed  that  over  4,000,000  took  the  pledge 
of  total  abstinence  by  his  influence ;  large  numbers  of  dramshops, 
breweries,  and  distilleries  were  closed,  and  to-day  on  both  sides  of 
the  Atlantic  there  are  hundreds  of  thousands  who  are  still  loyal 
members  of  "The  Father  Mathews  Societies." 

Several  able  advocates  of  temperance  reform  became  promi- 
nent almost  simultaneously.  Dr.  Eliphalet  Nott,  President  of 
Union  College,  New  York,  fired  some  distinguished  broadsides 
against  the  drink  fashion  in  1836,  and  published  in  1847  a  volume 
of  lectures  on  temperance,  of  which  Dr.  Peabody  said,  *'  These 
lectures  constitute  the  most  able,  thorough,  and  efficient  argument 
that  has  yet  been  constructed  for  the  disuse  of  all  intoxicating- 
liquors. 

In  April,  1840,  a  drinking  club  of  six  men  in  Baltimore  abandoned 
their  evil  habits,  signed  a  pledge  of  total  abstinence,  and  adopted 
the  name  of  the  "  Washingtonian  Temperance  Society."  John  H. 
W.  Hawkins  became  their  leader,  the  movement  spread  rapidly 
and  resulted  in  the  reformation  of  many  inebriates. 

The  greatest  single  result  of  this  movement  was  that  produced 
by  a  benevolent  Quaker,  a  member  of  the  order,  who  induced  John 
B.  Gough  to  take  the  pledge  about  the  year  1841,  who  from  an 
obscene  and  wretched  young  sot,  became  the  most  brilliant,  popu- 
lar, and  effective  advocate  of  temperance  the  world  has  ever  seen. 
From  the  commencement  of  his  career  as  an  advocate  in  Worcester, 
Mass.,  in  1848,  till  his  death  in  1886,  he  is  said  to  have  thrilled  by  his 
strong  appeals  the  hearts  of  ten  millions  of  his  fellow  creatures. 

Neal  Dow,  the  author  of  what  is  known  as  the  "  Maine  Law," 
by  almost  superhuman  efforts  secured  the  enactment  of  that  law 
in  his  native  State  in  1851,  prohibiting  the  sale  of  intoxicating 
drinks  under  severe  penalties;  a  law  still  in  operation,  while  its 
author,  in  his  ninetieth  year,  is  still  the  uncompromising  opposer 
of  strong  drink  ever  so  moderately  used. 

But  our  space  will  not  permit  us  to  detail  even  in  the  briefest 
manner  the  labors  of  many  of  the  noble  men  who  stood  in  the 
front  of  the  battle  and  fought  valiantly  for  many  years  in  the  cause  of 
temperance  reform.  Let  it  suffice  to  mention  Dr.  John  Marsh,  the 
indefatigable  secretary  of  the  "  Temperance  Union,"  and  the  author 
of  the  famous  tract,  "  Putnam  and  the  Wolf,"  and  Thomas  P. 
Hunt,  the  eloquent  but  deformed  humorist,  whose  jokes  were  a 
whip  of  scorpions  to  the  rumsellers  ;  Dr.  Charles  Jewett,  who  ended 
his  noble  career  by  writing  "  Forty  Years'  Fight  with  the  Drink 
Demon  ";  Dr.  Justin  Edwards,  who  was  one  of  the  ablest  of  all 
pioneers  in  the  cause,  and  organized  the  American  Society  for  the 


TEMPERANCE   SERVICE. 


531 


Promotion  of  Temperance,  in  February,  1826;  Bishop  Charles  P. 
Mcllvaine  of  Ohio,  whose  "  Address  to  the  Young  Men  of  the 
United  States  of  America  on  Temperance  "  was  one  of  the  earliest 
and  most  effective  tracts  published  on  the  subject ;  Bishop  Alonzo 
Potter  of  Pennsylvania,  who  wrote  an  admirable  tract  in  advocacy  of 
total  abstinence ;  John  Pierpont,  who  set  the  principles  of  total  absti- 
nence in  song ;  Hon.  Theodore  Frelinghuysen,  who  defended  these 
principles  in  the  Senate  chamber  ;  the  heroic  Dr.  John  Chambers  of 
Philadelphia  and  the  eloquent  Dr.  Stephen  H.  Tyng  in  New  York— 
both  uncompromising  opponents  of  intoxicating  liquors  as  a  bever- 
age ;  Rev.  Albert  Barnes,  who  from  his  Philadelphia  pulpit  hurled 
one  of  the  most  powerful  pleas  for  prohibition ;  Dr.  T.  L.  Cuyler, 
who,  smce  1842,  by  pen  and  tongue  has  been  in  the  forefront  of 
the  movement ;  Horace  Greeley  who,  on  the  platform  or  through 
the  press,  never  failed  to  denounce  the  liquor  traffic  ;  and  Abraham 
Lincoln  who,  from  early  life  till  its  close,  defended  the  principles 
of  total  abstinence.  The  successful  labors  of  Miss  Frances  E. 
Willard,  for  many  years  president  of  the  W.  C.  T.  U.,  are  worthy 
of  more  than  a  passing  chronicle. 

Every  noteworthy  movement  is  the  fruit  of  seed-thought  in  the 
brain  of  some  one  man  or  woman.  The  temperance  reform  is  no 
exception.  However  it  may  have  pervaded  and  been  adopted  by 
denominations  or  societies,  it  originated  with  some  man  like 
Nehemiah,  whose  heart  had  been  made  sad  by  witnessing  the 
desolation  around  him— desolation,  in  this  case,  wrought  by  the 
use  of  intoxicating  liquors.  Probably  the  first  temperance  sermons 
published  on  this  continent  were  two  preached  by  the  celebrated 
Increase  Mather,  and  printed  in  Boston  in  1673. 

In  1758  the  United  Brethren,  composed  principally  of  Germans, 
excluded  from  membership  all  those  who  indulged  in  strong  drink- 
meaning  thereby  distilled  spirits— and  at  its  first  General  Confer- 
ence in  i8ii.it  was  required  that  "  every  member  shall  abstain 
from  the  use  of  ardent  spirits  excepting  in  case  of  necessity  as 
medicine." 

In  1774  the  New  England  Yearly  Meeting  of  Friends  disowned 
a  man  for  drunkenness,  and  the  Philadelphia  meeting  in  1794 
affirmed  that  those  who  import,  make,  sell,  or  grind  grain  for 
liquors,  should  not  be  employed  in  any  service  in  the  Church,  nor 
their  contributions  received  ;  and  if  not  "  reclaimed  they  must  be 
disowned." 

In  1778,  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Quakers  required  members 
to  put  away  distilleries  ;  five  years  later,  those  who  would  not  "  put 
away  the  loathsome  idol  "  after  the  third  admonition  were  to  be 
excluded,  and  in  1804  it  was  unanimously  decided  that  no  member 
of  the  Church  should  be  permitted  to  sell  ardent  spirits  or  wine. 

In  1780  the  Methodists  took  official  action  and  voted  to  disap- 
prove distilling  and  to  disown  those  who  continued  the  practice. 
Three  years  later  they  declared  officially  that  making,  selling,  and 
drinking  such  liquors  were  "  wrong  in  nature  and  consequences." 


532 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


The  Seventh  Day  Baptists  as  early  as  1797  made  a  distinct  test 
of  local  prohibition  by  enforcing  laws  against  the  sale  of  liquors 
nearby  yearly  meeting  places. 

The  First  Presbyterian  General  Assembly  in  1789  voted  to  do  all 
in  its  power  to  make  "  men  sober."  In  1798,  because  of  the  increase 
of  intemperance,  it  appointed  the  last  Thursday  of  August  as  a 
day  of  humiliation,  fasting,  and  prayer  ;  and  by  the  same  body  of 
Christians  total  abstinence  was  foreshadowed  in  181 1. 

In  181 2  the  Presbyterian  Church  arraigned  as  a  public  nuisance 
places  of  vending  liquors  by  small  measure,  and  in  181 8  the  Presby- 
terian Assembly  planted  itself  squarely  on  the  principle  that  men 
ought  to  abstain  from  the  common  use  of  ardent  spirits. 

The  first  total  abstinence  society  was  formed  at  Hector,  N,  Y., 
April  3.  1818.  In  1819  Elder  Sweet,  a  Baptist,  refused  to  drink 
rum  offered  by  a  deacon,  (i)  because  the  example  was  bad  ; 
(2)   if  he  took  it  as  offered  he  would  be  drunk  every  night. 

The  Baptists  claim  the  first  temperance  newspaper  and  publish- 
ing house,  established  in  1826;  the  first  decided  utterance  for  pro- 
hibition made  in  1833  ;  the  originating  of  the  Washingtonian  move- 
ment in  1840 ;  and  the  oldest  continuous  church  temperance  service 
in  tiie  world,  that  of  the  Baptist  Bethel  in  Boston,  which  has  been 
held  for  over  fifty  years,  and  has  a  mammoth  pledge-roll  with  more 
than  30,000  signatures,  mainly  seamen  from  all  the  nations  of 
the  earth. 

All  denominations  of  Christians  have  wheeled  more  or  less  fully 
into  the  line  of  either  temperance  or  total  abstinence  reform,  and 
at  their  annual  meeting  in  New  York  City  in  1892,  the  Christian 
Endeavorers,  with  some  12,000  delegates  in  attendance,  represent- 
ing 1,370,000  membership  in  12,080  societies  from  all  denomina- 
tions, the  following  was  adopted  : 

Recognizing   in   the   liquor  traffic  the  giant   evil   of  the  day, 

Resolved,  That  we  condemn  intemperance  in  every  form  ;  that 
we  stand  for  total  abstinence,  for  the  suppression  of  the  saloon, 
and  for  the  dethronement  of  its  power  in  the  politics  of  our  land. 

Resolved,  That  we  join  in  the  petition  which  is  being  sent  to  the 
governments  of  the  world,  asking  them  to  raise  the  standard  of  the 
law  to  that  of  Christian  morals,  to  strip  away  the  safeguards  and 
sanctions  of  the  State  from  the  drink  traffic,  and  to  protect  our 
homes  by  the  total  prohibition  of  the  curse,  the  heaviest  that  rests 
upon  our  civilization. 

Resolved,  That  we  emphasize  the  sacred  cause  of  missions  ;  that 
we  protest  once  more  with  all  our  strength  against  the  Sunday 
opening  of  the  great  Columbian  Exposition  of  '93,  and  that  we 
pledge  ourselves  to  unflinching  conflicts  with  rum,  until  we  shall 
have  dethroned  the  greatest  curse  of  our  country— the  saloon. 


•■^tfiiniifrftftlMririirii 


TEMPERANCE   SERVICE. 


533 


TEMPERANCE  ORGANIZATIONS. 

^  Historical.— The  Washingtonian  Movement  had  its  origin 
in  a  tippling  house  in  the  city  of  Baltimore  in  1840,  where  six  men 
formed  themselves  into  a  club  called  "  The  Washingtonian  Total 
Abstinence  Society."  The  names  of  these  six  men  were,  William 
Mitchell,  David  Hoss,  Charles  Anderson,  George  Steer,  Bill 
McCurdy,  and  Tom  Campbell.  John  H.  W.  Hawkins,  who  was  a 
tamous  temperance  lecturer,  early  became  a  member,  but  was  not 
one  of  the  original  six.  Among  the  men  who  were  reached  by 
this  temperance  movement  was  John  B.  Gough. 

The  Order  of  the  Sons  of  Temperance  was  organized  in 
Teetotaler's  Hall,  No  71  Division  Street.  New  York  City,  Septem- 
ber  29,  1842.  ^        ^ 

The  National  Division  of  the  Sons  of  Temperance 
was  organized  June  11,  1843. 

The  Daughters  of  Temperance  was  organized  in  1854  and 
there  areseparate  divisionsof  this  order  for  people  of  the  African  race 

The  Independent  Order  of  Good  Templars  adopted  its 
platform  in  1855,  and  has  held  annual  sessions  since  that  date. 

The  Order  of  Templars  of  Honor  and  Temperance  was 
organized  in  the  city  of  New  York  in  1846,  which  is  a  higher  order 
of  the  Sons  of  Temperance ;  and  in  November  of  the  same  year, 
the  National  Temple  of  Honor  was  organized,  which  is  the 
supreme  head  of  the  order  in  the  United  States. 

The  Independent  Order  of  Rechabites.  whose  name  is 
taken  from  the  35th  chapter  of  Jeremiah,  was  established  in  the 
County  of  Lancaster  in  England  in  1835,  and  was  introduced  into 
America  from  England  in  1842. 

The  Independent  Order  of  Good  Samaritans  and 
Daughters  of  Samaria,  originated  in  the  city  of  New  York  in 
1847. 

The  Friends  of  Temperance  was  formed  at  Petersburg 
Va.,  in  November,  1865.  It  is  confined  to  white  persons,  but 
a  separate  order,  called  the  Sons  of  the  Soil,  has  been  organized 
for  colored  people. 

The  United  Friends  of  Temperance  was  organized  at 
Chattanooga,  Tenn.,  1871. 

The  Cadets  of  Temperance  was  organized  in  Philadelphia. 
The  Catholic  Total  Abstinence  Union  of  America  held 
Its  first  convention  in  Baltimore  in  1872. 

The  Father  Mathew  Societies  of  Temperance  were 
organized  in  1849. 

The  Orders  of  Passionists,  Jesuits,  and  Paulists  began 
to  found  total  abstinence  societies  in  1867-69. 

"The  Catholic  Total  Abstinence  Union  "was  estab- 
lished in  New  York  as  the  organ  of  the  Catholic  temperance 
societies. 


532 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


The  Seventh  Day  Baptists  as  early  as  1797  made  a  distinct  test 
of  local  prohibition  by  enforcing  laws  against  the  sale  of  liquors 
nearby  yearly  meeting  places. 

The  First  Presbyterian  General  Assembly  in  1789  voted  to  do  all 
in  its  power  to  make  "  men  sober."  In  1 798,  because  of  the  increase 
of  intemperance,  it  appointed  the  last  Thursday  of  August  as  a 
day  of  humiliation,  fasting,  and  prayer;  and  by  the  same  body  of 
Christians  total  abstinence  was  foreshadowed  in  181 1. 

In  18 1 2  the  Presbyterian  Church  arraigned  as  a  public  nuisance 
places  of  vending  liquors  by  small  measure,  and  in  1818  the  Presby- 
terian Assembly  planted  itself  squarely  on  the  principle  that  men 
ought  to  abstain  from  the  common  use  of  ardent  spirits. 

The  first  total  abstinence  society  was  formed  at  Hector,  N.  Y., 
April  3.  1818.  In  1819  Elder  Sweet,  a  Baptist,  refused  to  drink 
rum  offered  by  a  deacon,  (i)  because  the  example  was  bad  ; 
(2)   if  he  took  it  as  offered  he  would  be  drunk  every  night. 

The  Baptists  claim  the  first  temperance  newspaper  and  publish- 
ing house,  established  in  1826  ;  the  first  decided  utterance  for  pro- 
hibition made  in  1833  ;  the  originating  of  the  Washingtonian  move- 
ment in  1840;  and  the  oldest  continuous  church  temperance  service 
in  tlie  world,  that  of  the  Baptist  Bethel  in  Boston,  which  has  been 
held  for  over  fifty  years,  and  has  a  mammoth  pledge-roll  with  more 
than  30,000  signatures,  mainly  seamen  from  all  the  nations  of 
the  earth. 

All  denominations  of  Christians  have  wheeled  more  or  less  fully 
into  the  line  of  either  temperance  or  total  abstinence  reform,  and 
at  their  annual  meeting  in  New  York  City  in  1892,  the  Christian 
Endeavorers,  with  some  12,000  delegates  in  attendance,  represent- 
ing 1,370,000  membership  in  12,080  societies  from  all  denomina- 
tions, the  following  was  adopted  : 

Recognizing   in   the   liquor  traffic  the  giant  evil   of  the  day, 

Resolved,  That  we  condemn  intemperance  in  every  form  ;  that 
we  stand  for  total  abstinence,  for  the  suppression  of  the  saloon, 
and  for  the  dethronement  of  its  power  in  the  politics  of  our  land. 

Resolved,  That  we  join  in  the  petition  which  is  being  sent  to  the 
governments  of  the  world,  asking  them  to  raise  the  standard  of  the 
law  to  that  of  Christian  morals,  to  strip  away  the  safeguards  and 
sanctions  of  the  State  from  the  drink  traffic,  and  to  protect  our 
homes  by  the  total  prohibition  of  the  curse,  the  heaviest  that  rests 
upon  our  civilization. 

Resolved,  That  we  emphasize  the  sacred  cause  of  missions  ;  that 
we  protest  once  more  with  all  our  strength  against  the  Sunday 
opening  of  the  great  Columbian  Exposition  of  '93,  and  that  we 
pledge  ourselves  to  unflinching  conflicts  with  rum,  until  we  shall 
have  dethroned  the  greatest  curse  of  our  country— the  saloon. 


TEMPERANCE   SERVICE. 


533 


TEMPERANCE  ORGANIZATIONS. 

Historical.— The  Washingtonian  Movement  had  its  onVin 
in  a  tippling  house  in  the  city  of  Baltimore  in  1840,  where  six  nfen 
formed  themselves  into  a  club  called  "  The  Washingtonian  Total 

r^  .^^u"?,"''?.^''^;''^^-"  '^^^  "'^"""^s  ^^  these  six  men  were.  William 
Mitchell,  David  Hoss,  Charles  Anderson,  George  Steer,  Bill 
McCurdy,  and  Tom  Campbell.  John  H.  W.  Hawkins,  who  was  a 
tamous  temperance  lecturer,  early  became  a  member,  but  was  not 
one  ot  the  original  six.  Among  the  men  who  were  reached  by 
this  temperance  movement  was  John  B.  Gough 

The  Order  of  the  Sons  of  Temperance  was  organized  in 
Teetotalers  Hall,  No  71  Division  Street,  New  York  City,  Septem- 
ber 29,  1842.  ^       ^ 

The  National  Division  of  the  Sons  of  Temperance 
was  organized  June  11,  1843. 

The  Daughters  of  Temperance  was  organized  in  1854  and 
there  areseparate  divisionsof  this  order  for  people  of  the  African  race 

The  Independent  Order  of  Good  Templars  adopted  its 
platform  in  1855,  and  has  held  annual  sessions  since  that  date. 

The  Order  of  Templars  of  Honor  and  Temperance  was 
organized  in  the  city  of  New  York  in  1846,  which  is  a  higher  order 
of  the  Sons  of  Temperance  ;  and  in  November  of  the  same  year 
the    National    Temple   of   Honor   was   organized,   which    is   the 
supreme  head  of  the  order  in  the  United  States. 

The  Independent  Order  of  Rechabites,  whose  name  is 
taken  from  the  35th  chapter  of  Jeremiah,  was  established  in  the 
County  of  Lancaster  in  England  in  1835,  and  was  introduced  into 
America  from  England  in  1842. 

The  Independent  Order  of  Good  Samaritans  and 
Daughters  of  Samaria,  originated  in  the  city  of  New  York  in 
1847. 

The  Friends  of  Temperance  was  formed  at  Petersburg 
Va.,  in  November,  1865.  It  is  confined  to  white  persons,  but 
a  separate  order,  called  the  Sons  of  the  Soil,  has  been  organized 
for  colored  people. 

The  United  Friends  of  Temperance  was  organized  at 
Chattanooga,  Tenn.,  1871. 

The  Cadets  of  Temperance  was  organized  in  Philadelphia. 
The  Catholic  Total  Abstinence  Union  of  America  held 
Its  first  convention  in  Baltimore  in  1872. 

The  Father  Mathew  Societies  of  Temperance  were 
organized  in  1849. 

The  Orders  of  Passionists,  Jesuits,  and  Paulists  began 
to  found  total  abstinence  societies  in  1867-69. 

•'  The  Catholic  Total  Abstinence  Union  "  was  estab- 
lished in  New  York  as  the  organ  of  the  Catholic  temperance 
societies. 


534 


THOUGHTS  POk    THE   OCCASION. 


The  Woman's  Crusade  was  projected  by  Dr.  Dio  Lewis  of 
Boston,  who  lectured  in  various  parts  of  the  West.  He  organized 
temperance  bands  who  drafted  and  presented  appeals  to  the  whisky 
sellers.  On  the  22d  of  December,  1873,  he  organized  a  band  of 
seventy-five  ladies  to  carry  out  his  plans,  who  bound  themselves 
by  this  solemn  obligation  :  "  We  the  ladies  whose  names  are  hereto 
appended,  agree  and  resolve  that,  with  God's  help,  we  will  stand 
by  each  other  in  this  work,  and  persevere  until  it  is  accomplished, 
and  see  to  it,  so  far  as  our  influence  goes,  that  the  traffic  shall  never 
be  resumed."  As  a  result  of  the  first  week's  work  by  the  Woman's 
Crusade  in  the  town  of  Dixon,  111.,  thirty-nine  dramshops  were 
closed,  and  for  a  time  no  liquor  was  sold  in  the  town. 

Mrs.  J.  H.  Thomson,  daughter  of  Governor  Trimble,  and  sister 
of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Trimble  of  the  Ohio  Methodist  Conference,  offered 
the  first  prayer  in  an  Ohio  liquor  saloon. 

The  Temperance  Union  of  Christian  Women  of  the  City 
of  Brooklyn  was  organized  in  the  winter  of  1873-74. 

Woman's  National  Christian  Temperance  Union  is  the 
outcome  of  the  Woman's  Crusade.  This  Union  held  its  first  con- 
vention in  November,  1874,  in  Cleveland,  O.,  where  a  constitu- 
tion was  adopted,  and  a  plan  of  organization  projected.  The  first 
annual  meeting  of  the  Union  was  held  in  the  First  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  Cincinnati,  November  18  and  19.  1875,  at  which 
there  were  delegates  from  twenty-two  States  of  the  Union.  In 
1884  the  National  Convention  adopted  resolutions  pledging  its 
influence  to  the  Prohibition  Party,  and  it  has  also  for  years  cham- 
pioned the  cause  of  woman's  ballot. 

The  Red  Ribbon  Reform  Clubs  originated  with  Dr. 
Reynolds;  he  drew  up  the  pledge  which  is  the  basis  of  all  the 
Red  Ribbon  clubs.     The  pledge  is  in  the  words  : 

'*  Dare  to  do  Right.  We  the  undersigned  for  our  own  good 
and  for  the  good  of  the  world  in  which  we  live,  do  hereby  promise 
and  engage,  with  the  help  of  Almighty  God,  to  abstain  from  buying, 
selling,  or  using  alcoholic  or  malt  beverages,  wine  and  cider 
included."     This  club  originated  in  1874. 

The  Murphy   Movement    owes  its  origin   to    a  reformed 
drunkard  and  criminal  named  Francis  Murphy,  who  commenced 
his  labors  as  a  temperance  evangelist  in  Portland,  Me.,  April  x 
1871.  *       ^ 

The  Non-Partisan  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union  was  formed  from  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union,  because  in  1884  the  Convention  in  St.  Louis  pledged  its 
influence  to  the  aid  of  the  Prohibition  Party.  Many  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Union  believed  this  action  unwarranted,  unwise,  and 
wrong.  After  laboring  long  and  unsuccessfully  for  the  retracing 
of  the  step,  they  found  after  five  years  the  partisan  resolutions 
were  still  reiterated  with  increasing  emphasis,  and  felt  compelled 
to  withdraw  from  the  organization. 

Accordingly  on  January  22,  1890,  the   Non-Partisan   National 


TEMPERANCE    SERVICE. 


535 


Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  was  organized  in  Cleve- 
land, O.,  representatives  from  thirteen  States  being  present.  Mrs. 
Ellen  J.  Phinney  of  Cleveland  was  elected  president. 

The  third  annual  convention,  held  in  November,  1892,  in  Cleve- 
land, reported  about  six  hundred  local  unions  with  an  aggregate 
membership  of  ten  to  twelve  thousand. 

Evangelistic  or  Gospel  Temperance  is  the  type  of  reform 
specially  favored  by  Dwight  L.  Moody.  His  temperance  work  is 
strictly  Gospel  work.  His  keynote  is,  "  Whatsoever  He  says  unto 
you,  do  it." 


COLONIAL    AND    STATE    TEMPERANCE    LAWS. 

A  LAW  passed  in  the  settlement  of  East  Hampton  on 
Long  Island  in  165 1  provided  that  "  no  man  may  sell  any 
liquor  but  such  as  are  deputed  thereto  by  the  town.  Such 
men  shall  not  let  youths,  nor  such  as  are  under  other  men's 
management,  remain  drinking  at  unseasonable  hours,  and 
such  persons  shall  not  have  above  one-half  pint  at  a  time 
among  four  men." 

In  1655  it  was  forbidden  in  the  same  town  to  sell  liquor 
to  any  Indian  above  two  drams  at  a  time,  and  he  must  be 
sent  by  the  sachem,  or  have  a  written  ticket  with  him  fur- 
nished by  the  town,  and  not  above  a  quart  of  liquor  at  one 
time. 

In  1655  the  infant  colony  of  New  Haven  enacted  the 
following  :  "  No  person  at  any  time  shall  *  retale  '  any  sort 
of  strong  liquor  without  express  license  from  the  authority 
of  the  Plantation,  and  that  less  than  three  gallons  would  be 
considered  retail,  and  must  not  be  sold  above  3s.  6d. 
per  quart.  For  breach  of  this  law  a  penalty  of  five  pounds 
was  attached.     Other  restrictive  laws  were  also  enacted. 

In  1649  the  Rhode  Island  colony  licensed  the  sale  of 
strong  waters  to  sick  Indians. 

In  1659  the  General  Court  of  the  colonies  of  Connecticut 
ordered  that  any  person  found  drunk  shall  pay  twenty 
shillings  for  every  transgression,  and  the  owner  of  the 
house  in  which  such  a  person  is  found  shall  pay  ten  shil- 
lings.    The  Court  granted  to  one  Cullick  in  1654  the  privi- 


li 


\ 


53^ 


THOUGHTS  FOR   THE  OCCASION. 


lege  of  drawing  and  selling  one  hogshead  of  claret  and  a 
quarter  cask  of  red  wine  to  his  friends  and  neighbors  free 
from  the  county's  excise. 

In  1 66 1  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  regulated  by  law  the 
sale  of  liquors. 

In  1774  the  Continental  Congress  held  in  Philadelphia 
recommended  the  several  legislatures  in  the  United  States 
to  pass  laws  to  put  an  immediate  stop  to  the  pernicious 
practice  of  distilling  grain. 

Massachusetts  enacted,  February  20,  1808,  that  no  less 
than  fifteen  gallons  of  liquors  should  be  sold  at  one  time. 

Mississippi  enacted  in  1809  that  no  less  than  one  gallon 
should  be  sold  at  one  time. 

In  1832  the  commissioners  in  Athens,  Ga.,  imposed  a  tax 
of  $500  upon  the  venders  of  ardent  spirits. 

In  1837  Tennessee  passed  a  law  fining  any  person  at  the 
discretion  of  the  court  convicted  of  the  offense  of  selling 
spirituous  liquors. 

In  1838  Massachusetts  forbid  by  law  the  sale  of  spirits  or 
mixed  liquors  in  less  quantities  than  fifteen  gallons  ;  in 
Connecticut  they  prohibited  any  quantity  of  spirits,  etc., 
less  than  five  gallons  ;  in  Tennessee  any  quantity  less 
than  one  gallon  was  illegal  ;  in  Rhode  Island  ten  gallons 
was  the  minimum  ;  in  Mississippi  one  gallon  was  the 
minimum. 

In  1839  Connecticut  local  option  was  inaugurated  by 
legislation. 

In  1839  Illinois  passed  a  law  prohibiting  license  for  retail 
sales  in  all  cities  and  counties  where  petitions  were  pre- 
sented signed  by  a  majority  of  the  male  adult  inhabitants. 

In  1841  the  Cherokee  National  Council  enacted  that  on 
and  after  January  i,  1842,  the  introduction  and  sale  of 
ardent  spirits  in  the  nation  was  unlawful. 

In  1845  Huntsville,  Ala.,  decreed  that  no  liquor  saloon 
license  would  be  granted  without  the  payment  of  $2500. 

In  1845  New  York  Legislature  passed  a  local  option 
law  providing  for  special  elections  in  the  month  of  May  in 


TEMPERANCE   SERVICE. 


537 


the  several  cities  and  towns  exclusive  of  New  York  City  to 
determine  the  question  of  license  or  no  license. 

In  1846  Maine  enacted  its  first  prohibitory  law. 

In  1850  Wisconsin  passed  a  civil  damage  law. 

In  185 1  Maine  enacted  an  amended  prohibitory  law. 

In  1852  Massachusetts  enacted  the  ''Maine  Law  "  in  its 
most  rigid  form  ;  followed  by  Rhode  Island  and  Vermont 
the  same  year. 

In  1853  Michigan  enacted  a  prohibitory  law. 

In  1855  prohibitory  laws  were  enacted  in  New  York, 
Delaware,  Indiana,  Iowa,  Illinois,  Nebraska,  and  New 
Hampshire. 

In  1856  Maine  repealed  the  prohibitory  law. 

In  1857  Maine  re-enacted  the  probihitory  law,  which  is 
still  in  force. 

Because  of  the  reactionary  influence  and  the  adverse 
decisions  of  the  courts,  the  prohibitory  laws  were  repealed 
in  many  of  the  States. 

Rhode  Island  has  a  license  law  of  forty-six  sections 
passed  June  25,  1875. 

The  States  that  have  at  present — 1894 — prohibitory  stat- 
utes are  :  Maine,  Kansas,  Iowa,  North  Dakota,  South 
Dakota,  Vermont,  and  New  Hampshire. 

In  188 1  Nebraska  fixed  the  license  fee  in  towns  at  not 
less  than  $500,  and  in  cities  of  10,000  inhabitants  and 
upward  at  not  less  than  $1000. 

High  license  legislation  followed  in  Illinois,  Minnesota, 
Pennsylvania,  Massachusetts.  Mississippi,  Alabama,  Geor- 
gia, and  other  States  and  localities. 

Ohio  has  a  tax  law,  for  the  regulation  of  the  liquor  traffic, 
of  $250.  Also  an  option  law  by  which  the  traffic  may  be 
prohibited.  . 

In  1887  Michigan  adopted  a  liquor  tax  law  of  $500  for 
distilled,  $300  for  fermented  liquors  in  retail  ;  whole- 
sale distilled,  $500  ;  wholesale  and  retail,  $800  ;  brewers, 
$65  ;  and  upon  all  distillers,  $800.  There  is  also  an 
option  law. 


i . 


y- :?i-":"-!p'^:F**5"Wi»s»"as  *"?«  j''*vfJftqBfs*j:v  •■ 


a 


53S 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION. 


In  1880  Kansas  adopted  the  first  prohibitory  constitu- 
tional amendment. 

In  1884  Maine  adopted  a  prohibitory  constitutional 
amendment. 

In  1889  North  Dakota  and  South  Dakota  were  admitted 
to  the  Union  with  a  prohibitory  clause  in  the  constitution 
of  each  State. 

In  1884  Rhode  Island  adopted  a  prohibitory  constitu- 
tional amendment  but  repealed  it  in  1889. 

In  1882  Iowa  adopted  a  prohibitory  constitutional  amend- 
ment by  a  majority  vote,  but  on  account  of  a  clerical  error 
it  was  declared  invalid  by  the  Supreme  Court.  Many  States 
have  adopted  local  option  provisions.  Thirty-six  States 
have  provided  for  scientific  temperance  instruction  in  the 
public  schools  of  their  States,  with  special  reference  to  the 
effects  of  alcoholic  drinks,  etc.,  upon  the  human  system. 

July  I,  1893,  South  Carolina  passed  a  law  to  inaugurate 
State  control  of  the  liquor  traffic.  All  saloons  are  pro- 
hibited ;  liquors  to  be  sold  only  at  State  dispensaries  by 
salaried  and  bonded  officials.  The  Supreme  Court  of  the 
State  in  May,  1894,  sustained  the  law. 


TEMPERANCE  DAY. 

The  General  Assembly  at  Washington  recommended  the 
third  Sabbath  in  September,  or,  if  more  convenient,  some 
approximate  Sabbath,  to  our  churches  and  people  as  a  day 
to  be  observed  as  a  day  of  prayer  for  the  success  of  the 
cause  of  temperance,  and  that  our  churches,  ministers,  and 
Sabbath  schools  be  requested  to  observe  that  day  by  such 
services  as  shall  be  best  fitted  to  arouse  an  interest  in  the 
subject  and  secure  sound  Biblical  instruction  thereon.  It 
also  recommended  the  taking  of  a  collection  on  that  day 
for  defraying  the  necessary  expenses  of  the  Permanent 
Committee  on  Temperance.  The  Assembly  in  a  series  of 
well-considered   resolutions  pressed  upon  the  members  of 


TEMPERANCE   SERVICE. 


539 


the  Church  the  duty  of  abstaining  from  the  use  of  all  intox- 
icants, and,  in  view  of  the  countless  evils  resulting  from 
the  traffic  in  liquor,  urges  the  duty  of  individual  influence 
in  the  family,  in  society,  and  in  commercial  life  to  suppress 
the  entire  traffic.  The  following  resolution  is  specially 
commended  to  all  our  readers,  viz.  :  ''  That  since  no  re- 
strictive laws  will  be  of  any  avail  unless  upheld  and  enforced 
by  sound  public  sentiment,  we  urge  our  people  to  use  every 
lawful  method,  such  as  securing  temperance  instruction  in 
the  public  schools,  temperance  lessons  in  the  Sabbath 
schools,  family  instruction  as  well  as  public  preaching,  to 
create  and  sustain  a  healthy  public  sentiment  adverse  to  a 
traffic  so  ruinous  in  its  effects  on  the  individual,  on  the 
family,  on  the  State,  and  on  the  Church  of  God.V 

So  far  as  we  know,  the  duty  of  temperance  is  taught  in 
all  of  our  Sabbath  schools,  and  many  schools  make  a  spe- 
cial feature  of  it.  This  need  not  be  interfered  with  by  the 
Assembly's  admonition,  which  emphasizes  the  duty  of  in- 
struction as  of  so  much  importance  as  to  occupy  a  special 
day. 

Herald  and  Presbyter. 

TEMPERANCE   LEGISLATION   IN   THE  UNITED 

STATES. 

The  second  act  passed  by  the  First  Congress,  July  4, 
1789,  provided  for  the  collection  of  ten  cents  per  gallon  on 
all  distilled  spirits  of  **  Jamaica  proof,"  and  eight  cents  on 
other  spirits  ;  eighteen  cents  a  gallon  on  Madeira  wine,  and 
ten  cents  on  other  wines;  five  cents  a  gallon  on  beer,  ale, 
and  porter  in  casks  ;  on  all  cider,  beer,  ale,  and  porter  in 
bottles,  per  dozen,  twenty  cents  ;  and  on  malt,  per  bushel, 
ten  cents.  The  first  liquor  revenue  act  was  signed  by 
President  Washington  on  the  day  of  its  passage  by 
Congress. 

On  the  last  day  of  the  closing  session  of  the  First  Con- 
gress, March  3,  1791,  another  act  pertaining  to  distilled 


540 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


spirits  was  passed,  containing  sixty-two  sections,  and  provid- 
ing for  a  higher  rate  of  duties  to  be  paid  on  various  grades 
of  liquors,  and  for  inspection  and  safeguards  against  frauds, 
etc.,  etc.  In  succeeding  Congresses  many  modifications  in 
these  laws  pertaining  to  the  liquor  traffic  were  made,  and 
in  the  Third  Congress  an  act  was  passed  which  provided 
always  that  no  license  shall  be  granted  to  any  person  to  sell 
wines  or  foreign  distilled  spirituous  liquors  who  is  prohibited 
to  sell  the  same  by  the  laws  of  any  State. 

The  same  general  legislative  policy  in  dealing  with  the 
importation  of  intoxicating  liquors  from  foreign  countries, 
and  with  the  home  manufacture,  was  continued  till  the  extra 
session  of  the  Thirty-seventh  Congress  in  July,  1861,  occas- 
ioned by  the  War  of  the  Rebellion.  That  was  the  occasion 
of  a  new  and  elaborate  system  of  taxation  of  the  liquor 
traffic,  which  is  still  in  operation.  An  official  compilation 
of  the  internal  revenue  laws  enacted  by  Congress  from 
July  4,  1861,  and  in  force  March  4,  1879,  has  been  made, 
giving  the  details  of  the  legal  regulations  formulated  for 
the  government  control  of  the  manufacture  and  sale  of 
distilled  and  fermented  liquors  and  tobacco. 

The  Twenty-third  Congress  in  1834  passed  an  act  to 
regulate  trade  and  intercourse  with  the  Indian  tribes,  and 
preserve  peace  on  the  frontiers,  approved  June  30,  1834. 
This  act  was  amended  and  made  still  more  stringent  by 
the  Twenty-ninth  Congress  in  1847.  This  with  several 
other  amendments  are  still  in  force. 

Congress  also  enacted  that  "  no  license  for  the  sale  of 
intoxicating  liquors,  at  any  place  within  one  mile  of  the 
Soldiers'  Home  property  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  shall 
be  granted."     This  prohibitory  proviso  is  still  in  force. 

Congress  has  by  enactments  forbade  the  sale  of  liquors 
to  soldiers  in  six  military  posts  located  in  prohibition 
territory. 

A  bill  passed  by  the  Fifty-first  Congress,  known  as  "  The 
original  package  measure,"  provides  that  all  liquors  trans- 
ported into  any  State  shall  be  subject  to  the  laws  of  that 


TEMPERANCE  SERVICE, 


541 


State.  The  same  Congress  admitted  the  States  of  North 
Dakota  and  South  Dakota  into  the  Union,  each  of  which 
States  had  articles  in  the  constitution  providing  for  the 
prohibition  of  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  intoxicating 
liquors  therein.  By  an  act  of  Congress  scientific  instruc- 
tion, concerning  the  nature  and  effects  of  alcoholic  drinks 
and  other  narcotics,  is  made  compulsory  in  all  public 
schools  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  military  and  naval 
academies,  Indian  and  colored  schools,  and  in  the  Terri- 
tories of  the  United  States. 

Congress  has  also  enacted  that  "  no  person  in  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia  shall  sell,  give,  or  furnish  any  cigar, 
cigarette,  or  tobacco  in  any  of  its  forms,  to  any  minor  under 
sixteen  years  of  age." 

The  Fifty-third  Congress  passed  a  law  fixing  the  retail 
license  fee  at  four  hundred  dollars  and  wholesale  at  two 
hundred  dollars,  with  other  restrictions,  and  forbids  all 
licenses  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  churches  and  public 
schools,  and  prohibits  Sunday  opening. 

A  bill  providing  for  a  National  Inquiry  concerning  the 
alcoholic  liquor  traffic  has  passed  the  Senate  seven  times, 
but  has  always  been  defeated  in  the  House. 

In  the  Fifty-first  Congress,  a  joint  resolution  proposing  a 
prohibitory  Amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  was  introduced  and  favorably  reported  in  both  the 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  though  not  further 
acted  upon  in  either  body. 


TEMPERANCE. 

JOSEPH   COOK. 

It  is  a  fact  and  no  fancy  that  we  have  all  lived  to  see 
the  abolition  of  slavery.  Why  is  it  incredible  that  some  of 
us  may  live  to  see  a  greater  evil,  namely,  the  liquor  traffic, 
made  an  outlaw  bv  both  State  and  National  constitutional 
enactment  ?  There  is  more  money  behind  the  liquor  traffic 
than  was  ever  behind  slavery.     Those  who  used  to  be  called 


542 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION-. 


by  Charles  Sumner  "the  Lords  of  the  Lash  "  never  worked, 
or  whipped,  or  burned,  or  starved  to  death  in  any  circuit 
of  the  seasons  before  the  Civil  War  so  many  victims  as  the 
liquor  traffic  now  destroys  every  year  in  our  Republic. 

Slavery  never  added  so  much  to  the  wastes  and  burdens 
of  the  nation  in  any  one  year  before  our  military  conflict 
began,  as  the  liquor  traffic  now  adds  every  year.  Slavery 
never  cost  us  a  thousand  millions  annually.  Slavery  never 
destroyed  eighty  thousand  lives  a  year.  Slavery  did  not 
produce  nine-tenths  of  the  crime  of  the  land.  It  is  on 
account  of  the  unity  of  the  liquor  traffic  and  its  growing 
audacity  that  I  predict  its  overthrow. 

Slavery  went  down  not  chiefly  because  it  was  consummate 
wickedness.  In  the  history  of  our  conflict  with  slavery,  we 
saw  the  truth  of  the  old  pagan  proverb  :  ''  Whom  the  gods 
would  destroy  they  first  make  mad."  Public  sentiment 
rose  slowly  against  slavery,  but  when  it  fired  on  Fort 
Sumter  and  took  the  nation  by  the  throat,  then  opposition 
to  it  acquired  national  predominance.  When  the  liquor 
traffic  takes  the  nation' by  the  throat,  you  will  find  that 
although  Americans  often  wait  until  the  fifty-ninth  minute 
of  the  eleventh  hour  before  they  arouse  themselves,  they 
may,  nevertheless,  in  a  momentous  crisis,  unlock  from  their 
throat  the  grip  of  the  great  evil  in  the  sixtieth  minute. 

You  say  license  is  a  scheme  by  which  millions  of  dollars 
go  into  the  public  treasury  ;  but  millions  of  dollars  go  out 
as  a  consequence.  Carroll  D.  Wright  affirms  that  twenty 
dollars  are  lost  in  direct  damage  for  every  dollar  gained  by 
license.  It  is  a  system  by  which  you  rob  Peter  to  pay 
Paul  and  do  not  pay  Paul.  It  is  a  system  by  which  you 
save  at  the  spigot,  and  waste  at  the  barrel  head.  Ameri- 
cans are  supposed  to  be  able  to  see  through  a  grindstone  if 
the  aperture  is  large  enough  ;  they  do  not  suffer  themselves 
to  be  hoodwinked  ;  but  millions  of  church  members  favor 
license  chiefly  because  they  think  there  will  millions  come 
by  it  to  the  government;  but  ten  times  what  it  pays  is  lost 
by  it. 


TEMPERANCE   SERVICE. 


543 


"CHRISTIAN    LIBERTY"   NOT  A   LICENSE. 

REV.    DR.   CHARLES    L.   THOMPSON. 

Christian  liberty  is  the  right  of  self-determining  Chris- 
tian conduct,  within  the  limits  of  the  laws  which  the  Founder 
of  the  Christian  republic  has  promulgated  for  its  safety  and 
perpetuation.     Those  laws  are — those  pillars  that  support 
the  temple  of  Christian  manhood  are  two.     First,  love  of 
God  ;  secondly,  love  of  thy  neighbor.     I  must  not  do  any- 
thing which  will  jeopardize  either.     As  regards  love  of  God, 
I  have  no  right  to  take  a  serious  risk  of  deadening  or  injur- 
ing the  love  of  God  in  my  heart.     I  say  there  are  none  of  us 
so  strong,  so  free  from  possible  hereditary  taint,  that  we  are. 
able  to  say,  **  The  moderate  use  of  intoxicants  will,  in  my 
case,   never  become  immoderate.     Others  have  fallen  and 
darkened   God's  love  in  their  minds  and   lives,  but  I  am 
strong  and  never  will  yield."     No  man  has  a  right  to  take 
that  risk.     It  is  violation  of  one  of  the  restraining  planks 
of  Christian  liberty.     Secondly,  no  man  has  a  right  to  do 
that  which  will  injure  his  neighbor.     "  If  meat  make  my 
brother  to  offend,  I  will  eat  no  meat."     If  any  conduct  of  mine 
may  imperil  my  brother,  in  regard  to  his  body,  or  mind, 
or  spirit,  I  have  no  right  to  thus  lead  him  into  peril.     Now, 
moderate  drinkers  have  a  place  for  total  abstinence  in  their 
platform.     They  say, '*  Of  course  if  I  see  my  drinking  is 
going  to   make  any   other   man  drunk,  or  lead    him    into 
drinking  habits,  I  must  stop."     But  alas  !  they  bring  in 
their  moral  duty  at  a  point  where  not  unfrequently  it  is 
absolutely  inoperative  and  useless — too  late.     Who  is  my 
neighbor  ?     Three  men  are  around  me  as  my  neighbors. 
First,  the  moderate  drinker.     I  never  can  be  sure,  though 
I  may  be  secure  myself,  that  my  example  will  not  awaken 
an  appetite  that  has  been  slumbering  in  his  veins,  it  may 
have  been,  for  generations.      Therefore    for    his    sake    I 
abstain.     Secondly,  the  man  who  never  drinks  ;  for  I  cannot 
know  what  appetite  may  slumber  in  his  veins  whose  safety 
has  been  his  abstinence.     To  this  point  I  can  never  be  sure 


544 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


that  my  leading  him  away  from  total  abstinence  may  not 
lead  him  into  degradation  and  ruin.  And  in  the  third 
place,  the  drunkard.  Perhaps  he  is  trying  to  climb  back 
again  to  his  lost  manhood.  As  with  John  B.  Gough,  it  is 
perfectly  plain  that  the  only  ground  upon  which  I  can  help 
him  is  to  get  down  and  stand  by  him  on  the  ground  of  total 
abstinence.  The  only  appeal  that  is  the  saving  appeal  in 
his  case,  is  the  lawful  appeal,  not  to  stand  upon  my  privi- 
leges as  a  strong  freeman  and  say,  "  I  am  secure  and  can 
poise  the  glass  in  my  hand  of  liberty,  but  you  are  a  slave  ; 
don't  you  touch  it."  That  kind  of  preaching  is  an  insult  to 
my  own  manhood  and  sympathy  and  Christian  life,  and 
never  helps  any  man. 

Christian  at  Work. 


THE    CHURCHES    AND    THE    SALOONS. 

NEAL  DOW. 

"  We  never  can  create  a  public  sentiment  strong  enough  to  suppress 
the  dram-shops  until  God's  people  take  hold  of  the  temperance  reform 
as  a  part  of   their  religion." — Theodore  L.  Cuyler. 

That  is  undoubtedly  true,  assuming  that  all  church 
members  are  really  *'  God's  people." 

My  friend  Dr.  Cuyler  has  an  abounding  charity  ;  that  is 
a  prominent  feature  of  his  character,  and  he  always  looks 
upon  the  shortcomings  of  others  with  a  forbearing  and 
forgiving  spirit.  With  myself  I  am  sorry  to  confess  that  I 
am  inclined  (perhaps  rightly)  to  judge  men  by  what  they 
do,  and  not  by  what  they  profess.  I  wonder  if  I  should 
widely  err  in  saying  that  ''  God's  people  " — those  who  are 
truly  such — will  take  hold  of  the  temperance  reform  as  a 
most  important  part  of  their  duty,  as  a  part  of  their  reli- 
gion, and  make  it  a  prominent  part  of  church  work  ?  Such 
persons  must  do  this  ;  a  failure  to  do  it  would  lead  me  to 
the  conclusion  that  they  cannot  be  considered  a  part  of 
God's  people.  Anyone  loving  and  fearing  God,  feeling 
himself  bound  by  solemn  obligations  to  him  and  moved  by 


TEMPERANCE   SERVICE. 


545 


love  for  his  fellow  men  to  do  everything  in  his  power  to 
promote  their  welfare  and  happiness,  could  not  fail  to 
make  active,  persistent,  and  earnest  work  in  the  temper- 
ance cause  a  part  of  his  religion. 

Here  is  a  fearful  enemy  of  God  and  man— the  liquor 
traffic  ;  it  makes  ruthless  war  upon  the  people  ;  it  blasts 
and  destroys  their  homes  as  with  pestilence  and  fire  ;  it 
kills  savagely,  cruelly,  more  than  a  hundred  thousand  of 
them  every  year ;  robbing  them  first  and  driving  wives  and 
children  to  ruin  and  despair.  An  active  agitation  is  going 
on  in  the  country  against  this  tremendous  wrong  ;  many 
men  and  women  are  exerting  themselves  to  their  utmost  to 
obtain  a  remedy  for  this  great  sin,  shame,  and  crime. 
"  The  membership  of  the  churches  "  have  it  in  their  power 
by  a  word,  almost  by  a  look,  to  protect  the  country  from 
this  fearful  scourge,  but  as  a  body  they  do  nothing  about 
it ;   they  look  on  coolly  and  make  no  sign. 

Can  those  who  are  truly  God's  people  do  that?  Who- 
ever  has  an  opinion  about  it  let  him  answer.  Many  years 
ago  there  lived  in  this  city  a  famous  merchant,  a  great  ship- 
owner known  to  everybody.  One  day  he  was  on  the  wharf 
overlooking  the  preparations  being  made  to  cast  off  the  fasts 
of  a  great  ship  of  his  just  ready  for  sea.  Two  of  his  sailors 
were  quarreling  and  fighting  near  by  ;  a  bystander  said  to 
him,  **  Mr.  Jones,  will  you  stand  by  and  see  these  men  tear 
each  other  to  pieces  ? "  *'  No,"  was  the  reply  and  he  quietly 
walked  up  the  wharf  with  his  hands  crossed  behind  him  ! 
That  it  seems  to  me  illustrates  the  attitude  of  the  churches 
as  a  whole  toward  this  great  war  now  going  on  in  this 
country  between  heaven  and  hell. 

Everybody  must  remember  with  what  earnestness  the 
religious  press  and  the  churches  entered  into  the  war 
against  the  Louisiana  lottery  ;  how  bravely  they  fought 
that  battle  and  how  complete  the  victory  was.  Why  was  that 
great  scheme  opposed  and  overthrown  ?  Because  it  demor- 
alized the  people  ;  because  it  robbed  and  impoverished 
them,  because  it  was  inconsistent  with  the  general  good. 


546 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


But  the  liquor  traffic  does  a  hundred  times  more  of  all  that 
than  the  lottery  did,  besides  inflicting  jipon  the  people  far 
more  misery,  wretchedness,  and  ruin  than  come  upon  them 
from  all  other  sources  of  evil  combined.  Does  anybody 
deny  this  or  doubt  it  ?  Why  then  I  ask  should  the  churches 
as  a  body  stand  aloof  from  the  great  endeavor  now  going 
on  to  overthrow  this  enormous  wickedness?  If  the  love  of 
God  and  their  fellow  men  was  really  in  their  hearts  could 
they  be  indifferent  to  this  great  wrong  ? 

Who  are  the  men  engaged  in  the  liquor  traffic  ?  They 
are  largely  jail-birds,  men  who  have  been  in  penitentiaries, 
State  prison,  jails,  with  many  more  of  them  who  ought  to 
be  there.  Bad  as  they  are,  ignorant,  vile,  brutal  as  they 
are,  led  by  unscrupulous  demagogues,  they  govern  the 
country.  They  put  in  the  occupants  of  the  White  House 
and  put  them  out  as  their  leaders  give  the  word.  Why  is 
this  organized  political  force,  composed  of  the  lowest  and 
vilest  part  of  our  people,  permitted  to  dominate  the  nation 
almost  as  imperiously  as  the  Czar  does  the  peasants  and 
Jews  of  Russia  ?  Because  of  the  indifference  to  it  of  the 
membership  of  the  churches.  The  Christian  at  Work  said  : 
**  They  are  masters  of  the  situation,  when  they  say  go,  and 
vote  go,  they  will  go."  'if  that  is  true  the  responsibility  for 
this  great  sin,  shame,  and  crime  rests  with  them.  Where  is 
the  force  powerful  and  influential  enough  to  arouse  these 
people  from  what  Canon  Wilberforce  called  "  abominable 
indifference  "  ? 

Christian  at  Work, 


GOSPEL  TEMPERANCE  REFORM. 

THOMAS   C.    MURPHY. 

There  are  two  great  principles  in  this  world,  formation 
and  reformation.  When  God  made  this  earth  he  formed  it, 
and  great  and  majestic  was  the  formation.  Since  then  man 
has  fallen,  and  a  work  only  little  less  divine  has  been  going 
on.     Reforms  are  the  life  of  the  world  ;  and  the  reformers, , 


TEMPERANCE   SERVICE. 


547 


though  perhaps  not  recognized  in  their  own  day,  have  since 
been  looked  upon  as  those  who  have  marked  out  the  way 
humanity  should  go  in  its  progressive  course.  There  was 
a  time  when  the  horizon  of  religious  life  grew  dim,  and 
when  the  hope,  and  light,  and  love,  and  joy  of  the  Christian 
heart  had  almost  faded  away,  and  as  one  looked  out  upon 
the  storm  of  infidelity  which  had  arisen  he  almost  doubted 
the  existence  of  a  divine  Creator ;  but  as  Cowper  has  so 
beautifully  said  : 

God  works  in  a  mysterious  way 

His  wonders  to  perform  ; 
He  plants  his  footsteps  on  the  sea, 

And  rides  upon  the  storm. 

And,  in  his  own  good  time,  he  raised  up  a  man  whom  he 
anointed  and  sent  forth  as  an  apostle,  and  his  preaching 
and  his  writings  shook  the  German  Empire  from  center  to 
circumference,  and  on  the  wings  of  influence  his  power  was 
felt  in  the  sunny  fields  of  France,  and  when  it  crossed  the 
English  Channel  and  made  its  advent  into  that  grand  and 
ancient  country,  the  people  realized  that  the  dawn  of 
religious  liberty  was  at  hand. 

I  might  allude  to  the  Revolutionary  period  of  American 
colonial  days,  but  I  will  pass  on  to  a  more  recent  period 
when  God  in  his  wisdom  caused  our  land  to  pass  through 
severe  and  disastrous  afflictions  such  as  but  few  nations 
have  ever  been  called  upon  to  endure  ;  for  of  all  wars  a 
war  of  sections  under  the  same  government  is  the  most 
disastrous  and  vindictive. 

But  when  reform  is  needed,  it  must  either  come  by  peace- 
ful measures  or  by  a  resort  to  more  potent  means. 

The  curse  of  slavery  rested  upon  us  and  for  years  had 
been  a  source  of  strife  and  contention,  and  it  was  apparent 
that  our  Government  could  not  much  longer  retain  its 
stability  unless  the  accursed  stumbling-block  which  stood 
in  the  way  was  forever  removed.  You  will  remember  that 
peaceful  measures  and  compromises  were  resorted  to,  but  in 


548 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


vain.  Finally  fierce  war,  with  all  its  sad  effects,  resulted 
in  striking  the  shackles  from  over  three  millions  of  God's 
down-trodden  children.  And  to-day,  like  the  Union  Jack, 
wherever  the  Stars  and  Stripes  wave  they  are  acknowledged 
as  the  standard  for  physical,  intellectual,  and  religious  lib- 
erty. And  we,  as  lovers  of  truth,  of  virtue,  and  of  justice 
thank  God  for  it. 

In  pointing  out  the  analogy  between  these  reforms  which 
I  have  briefly  alluded  to,  I  would  say,  in  the  first  place,  that 
they  were  advocated  for  a  long  time  by  a  minority  of  the 
people.  This  difficulty  the  Gospel  Temperance  Reform 
has  had  to  contend  with  ever  since  its  inauguration  ;  and 
because  of  this  fact  a  great  many  good  and  excellent 
Christian  people  treat  it  with  indifference.  To  be  consist- 
ent they  should  also  treat  Christianity  with  indifference. 
For  alas,  Christianity  has  been  and  still  is  represented  by 
only  one-tenth  of  the  people  who  inhabit  the  nations  of  the 
earth.  But  will  Christianity  therefore  be  wrong  ?  Will 
every  precious  promise  in  our  own  Bible  be  a  delusion  .?  Will 
every  doctrine  be  a  fable  ?  Will  every  fruit  of  the  spirit 
be  an  apple  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  ?  Will  every  act  of 
benevolence  become  a  cruel  wrong  ?  Will  the  sacrifice  of 
Christ  be  a  common  fetich  ?  Will  the  New  Jerusalem  be 
without  foundation  ?,  Will  its  eternal  mansions  be  without 
inhabitants  ?  Will  its  rivers  of  pleasure  become  waters  of 
Marah  ?  Will  its  everlasting  throne  be  without  its  King? 
Yea,  will  God  himself  be  a  liar,  until  we  have  at  least  one 
more  in  the  ranks  of  Christianity  than  is  numbered  in  the 
proud  ranks  of  her  foes?     Nay,  verily. 

Truth  forever  on  the  scaffold  : 

Wrong  forever  on  the  throne; 
Yet  that  scaffold  sways  the  future, 

And  behind  the  dim  unknown 
Standeth  God  within  the  shadow. 

Keeping  watch  above  his  own. 

And  in  the  end  right  shall  be  victorious. 


TEMPERANCE   SERVICE, 


549 


The  argument  is  baseless  which  asserts  that  a  reform  or 
a  principle  which  is  represented  by  a  few  is  wrong  ;  and  to 
enforce  the  truth  of  this  assertion  let  me  relate  an  incident 
concerning  a  man  who  signed  the  pledge,  and  who  was 
imbued  with  a  desire  to  get  others  to  do  likewise.  In 
other  words,  he  had  the  missionary  spirit.  He  was  a 
worker,  and  whenever  he  met  an  acquaintance  he  would 
ask  him  to  record  his  name  on  a  pledge  card  to  abstain, 
and  in  performing  this  work  he  came  in  contact  with  a 
prominent  citizen  to  whom  he  said  : 

*'You  have  always  been  profuse  in  your  expressions  of 
sympathy  for  the  cause  of  temperance,  and  we  would  like 
to  have  you  practically  identified  with  us,  and  I  would  be 
glad  to  have  your  signature  recorded  on  the  roll  of  pledged 
abstainers." 

The  gentleman  said  in  reply  :  "  I  do  not  care  to  identify 
myself  with  your  movement.  Temperance  is  all  very  well 
in  a  way,  but  the  advocates  of  it  are  in  such  a  minority 
that  I  cannot  seriously  consider  the  proposition  which  you 
make." 

**  Why  ?  "  said  the  young  man.  **  Because  the  minority 
is  wrong  ? " 

"  Certainly,"  he  replied.  "  This  is  a  country  where  the 
majority  rules,  and  the  minority  necessarily  is  wrong." 

**  If  that  be  true,"  said  the  advocate  of  reform,  **  then  I 
would  like  to  ask  you  how  you  would  like  to  have  been  in 
the  majority  at  the  time  of  the  Flood  ?  " 

And  if  you  remember  the  history  of  those  in  the  olden 
times,  they  were  right,  and  eventually  they  triumphed. 
And  so  with  the  temperance  people  ;  though  we  may  be  in 
the  minority,  we  can  derive  consolation  from  the  fact  that 
the  principle  we  advocate  is  right,  and  right  shall  eventually 
triumph. 

Truth,  crushed  to  earth,  will  rise  again  ; 

The  eternal  years  of  God  are  hers. 
But  Error,  wounded,  writhes  in  pain, 

And  dies  amid  her  worshipers. 


i 


5t>''l>3!T!S!!.^-'S!!5SS''*^^!SBS^^^'^ 


550 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION-. 


Again,  all  these  reforms  were  in  the  interest  of  physical, 
intellectual,  and  religious  liberty.  So  is  the  Gospel  Tem- 
perance Reform.  The  man  who  is  so  unfortunate  as  to 
fall  beneath  the  power  of  intoxicating  liquor  and  become  a 
drunkard,  and  who  goes  reeling  and  staggering  through  the 
streets,  has  no  control  over  himself,  and  he,  therefore,  does 
not  enjoy  physical  liberty. 

The  man  who  is  a  drunkard  has  no  intellectual  freedom. 
Science  declares  that  alcohol  seeks  the  intellectual  facul- 
ties, clogs  the  brain  cells,  distorts  the  reason,  vitiates  the 
mind,  shatters  the  nerve  centers,  and  he  who  is  diseased 
with  inebriety  cannot  enjoy  intellectual  freedom. 

And  as  to  religion,  it  is  unnecessary  to  argue  that  the 
moral  and  spiritual  force  and  tone  of  the  individual  who 
has  become  the  slave  of  this  passion  has  been  almost 
irretrievably  lost. 

Therefore,  if  we  apply  the  force  of  reason  to  this  analy- 
sis, we  find  that  the  Gospel  Temperance  Reform,  in  its 
present  attitude,  is  in  the  interest,  directly  so,  of  the  funda- 
mental principles  that  underlie  not  only  the  Government  of 
Great  Britain  but  also  of  America  ;  for  it  is  the  glory  of 
these  nations  that  they  preserve  physical,  intellectual,  and 
religious  liberty  to  the  lowliest  of  their  subjects.  This 
being  true,  then  we,  the  people  who  compose  the  Govern- 
ment, for  the  Government  in  a  popular  sense  in  both  these 
countries  is  of  the  people,  for  the  people,  and  by  the 
people— they  elect  the  members  of  Congress  and  the  repres- 
entatives of  the  House  of  Commons,  and  the  legislation  of 
these  bodies  simply  reflects  the  sentiment  of  their  constitu- 
ency— I  say  we,  the  people  who  create  the  governing  power, 
have  a  duty  to  perform.  What  is  it  ?  That  we  shall  exert 
our  efforts  and  put  forth  our  energies  to  hasten  the  dawn 
of  that  day  when  the  sentiment  which  now  sustains  the 
drink  traffic  shall  be  replaced  by  a  total  abstinence 
sentiment. 

How  shall  it  best  be  brought  about,  is  the  question  that 
naturally  suggests  itself.     There  are  those  who  claim  that 


TEMPERANCE   SERVICE. 


551 


the  reform  should  be  wrought  out  through  the  ballot  box. 
If  the  strength  and  the  sustaining  force  of  the  traffic  were 
in  the  ballot  box,  there  would  be  a  possibility  of  dethroning 
it  in  that  way. 

But,  unfortunately,  the  root  of  the  evil  is  not  there,  nor 
is  it  in  the  open  saloon,  nor  is  it  to  be  found  in  the  distill- 
ery ;  but  it  is  grounded,  and,  I  regret  to  say,  it  flourishes 
in  the  passions,  the  appetites,  and  the  customs  of  the 
people,  who  are  the  governing  power. 

Public  sentiment  is  the  basis  of  law,  and  public  sentiment 
is  simply  individual  sentiment  taken  in  the  aggregate.  A 
spring  cannot  rise  higher  than  its  source.  And  prohibi- 
tion, to  be  successful,  must  be  the  outgrowth  of  a  senti- 
ment which  is  based  upon  the  self-sacrifice  involved  in 
total  abstinence,  enforced  in  the  individual  life  of  the 
nation.  This  involves  agitation,  education,  and  regenera- 
tion. To  educate  the  public  mind  and  to  awaken  the 
public  conscience  is  equivalent  to  enacting  laws  upon  the 
subject,  because  out  of  the  mind  and  heart  of  the  people 
the  laws  of  the  land  are  made.  The  people  need  to  real- 
ize their  responsibility  as  individuals ;  and  we  should  lay 
down  a  principle  that,  while  men  are  licensed  to  sell  liquor, 
none  have  a  license  to  take  the  cunning  from  the  hand  of 
any  man,  the  genius  from  his  brain,  or  the  happiness  from 
his  home.  If  these  are  laid  upon  the  altar  of  Bacchus,  it 
is  by  the  consent  of  the  possessor  of  them. 

Too  much  stress  cannot  be  laid  upon  the  power  of 
example.  Especially  is  this  true  of  young  men  and  young 
women.  It  is  an  easy  matter  for  a  young  man  to  fall ;  but 
it  requires  almost  superhuman  efforts  to  rise  again.  Our 
aim  should  be  to  make  the  drinking  customs  of  society 
unpopular.  One  needs  to  possess  the  manliness  and  the 
heroism  that  will  not  bow  to  Baal.  The  prerogative  of  all 
is  to  be  free  and  untrammeled  ;  and  the  young  man  who 
hopes  to  achieve  success,  who  desires  to  write  his  name 
high  on  the  roll  of  honor,  who  hopes  to  be  a  blessing  to 
his  father  and  to  his  mother,  an  honor  to  his  country,  and 


c<iB^iiig|iaMni 


552 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION. 


a  servant  of  his  God,  should  not  allow  himself  to  become 
contaminated,  even  in  the  slightest  shadow  of  a  shade  of 
a  degree,  with  the  convivial  habits  of  the  age. 

I  wish  I  might  be  able  to  impress  upon  young  ladies 
the  almost  magical  power  for  good  which  they  possess  in 
behalf  of  this  principle.  Wilberforce  said  upon  one  occa- 
sion :  "  Give  me  the  mothers  and  the  daughters  of  the 
United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  to  work  as  a  unit,  and  I 
will  free  the  slaves."  And  the  young  ladies  went  up  and 
down  through  the  various  cities  with  a  petition  to  which 
they  received  the  signatures  of  six  hundred  thousand  citi- 
zens, asking  the  Commons  to  appropriate  twenty  millions 
of  money  to  ransom  the  oppressed  on  the  Island  of  Jamaica. 
And  on  the  night  that  Wilberforce  stood  up  to  make  his 
final  appeal  in  behalf  of  the  measure,  his  eyes  rested  upon 
that  petition  and  his  tongue  grew  more  eloquent  than  it 
had  ever  been  before,  and  he  was  able  to  seize  the  lazy 
conscience  of  that  Parliament  and  drag  it  up  to  the  throne 
of  eternal  justice.  The  bill  was  passed,  and  seven  hundred 
thousand  slaves  on  the  Island  of  Jamaica  were  freed,  and 
sung  "Praise  God  from  whom  all  blessings  flow." 

Give  to  the  cause  of  Gospel  Temperance  Reform  the 
young  ladies  of  the  country  to  work  as  a  unit  in  their  gra- 
cious, persuasive  way  in  behalf  of  the  principle  of  total 
abstinence,  and  in  a  few  years  the  young  men  will  be  so 
impressed  with  the  virtue  of  sobriety  that  the  practice  of 
tippling  in  their  lives  will  disappear. 

New  York  Independent. 


TEMPERANCE   SERVICE. 


55 


GAINS  OF  TEMPERANCE    IN    MASSACHUSETTS. 

There  are  signs  that  the  Gothenburg  system,  which  has 
gained  so  extensive  favor  during  the  last  twenty-five  years 
in  Norway  and  Sweden,  is  attracting  increasing  attention 
both  in  England  and  in  this  country.  In  England  it  has 
earnest  advocates  in  the  Bishop  of  Chester  and  Hon.  Joseph 
Chamberlain.     The  petition  to  the  Massachusetts  Legisla- 


ture that  all  license  fees  be  turned  over  to  the  county  or 
State,  so  as  not  to  be  a  temptation  to  voters  to  vote  license, 
is  in  the  same  direction.  The  essential  features  of  this  sys- 
tem are  that  it  takes  the  liquor  question  entirely  out  of  poli- 
tics, allows  no  profit  to  any  individual  from  liquor  selling, 
prevents  all  congregating  in  saloons  for  drinking  purposes, 
and  uses  all  profits  for  public  improvements  not  provided 
for  by  taxation.  The  application  of  this  system  in  this  coun- 
try would  require  important  modifications.  Its  trial  would 
be  an  experiment  and  the  most  favorable  conditions  would 
be  found  in  towns  where  there  is  an  undoubted  majority 
against  saloons.  It  would  have  the  advantage  of  the  experi- 
ence for  a  quarter  of  a  century  of  such  a  city  as  Bergen, 
which  is  three-fourths  the  size  of  Worcester.  Many  of 
those  who  oppose  the  selling  of  liquor  on  a  principle  which 
they  are  not  now  able  to  maintain  would,  we  think,  be  wil- 
ling to  try  this  experiment  as  a  step  toward  the  abolition  of 
drinking.  Those  who  have  unsuccessfully  struggled  to 
close  the  saloons  would  certainly  welcome  it,  and  those  who 
are  in  the  main  indifferent,  but  who  cannot  close  their  eyes 
to  the  great  evils  of  the  saloons,  would  not  oppose  it.  If 
the  privilege  were  granted  by  the  Legislature  we  think  there 
are  towns  which  would  try  the  experiment,  and  we  wish  that 
legislation  might  be  enacted  giving  them  the  opportunity. 

Congregationalist. 


BEER,  A   HARMLESS  DRINK? 

NEAL    DOW. 

Dr.  Crosby  says  beer  is  as  innocent  and  harmless  as 
milk,  ignoring  the  fact  that  England  is  one  of  the  most 
drunken  nations  in  the  world,  and  that  its  drunkenness  is 
on  beer ;  ignoring  the  fact  attested  to  by  innumerable 
reformed  drunkards,  that  intoxication  on  beer  is  far  worse 
than  that  on  distilled  liquors  and  far  worse  to  recover 
from  ;  ignoring  the  fact  that  its  use  causes  mischief  of  the 
gravest  kind  to  some  of  the  vital  organs  of  the  body  ; 


'■fl^NrtSietiV'^--"''*'*<Mli»ai>^.a..j.a».,..«i^ 


U^ji^AdidiniitUaM^^^iw^Ail^^l^tii 


554 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASTOl^. 


|: 


if 


ignorant  of  the  fact  that  Sir  Henry  Thompson,  one  of  the 
most  eminent  medical  men  in  England,  Surgeon  Extraor- 
dinary  to  the  King  of  Belgium,  in  a  letter  to  the  Archbishop 
of   Canterbury,   said  :    "  I   consider   it   a   duty   to    speak 
upon  this  matter,  and  feel  that  I  can  do  so  with  authority 
when  I  say  that,  in  the  course  of  a  long  practice  in  every 
rank  and  condition  in  life,  from  the  hospital  practice  up,  I 
have  found  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  most  painful  and 
dangerous  diseases  have  their  origin   in  what  is  conven- 
tionally called   the   moderate  use  of  fermented   liquors." 
This  declaration  of  Sir  Henry  has  never  been  denied  by 
any  medical  authority  in  Europe  or   America.     M.  Taine, 
the    eminent    French    writer,    in    his   book  on    Germany, 
"  Le  Paos  des  Milliards,"  says  that  in  the  morning  the 
people  are  beer  barrels,  at  night  they  are  barrels  of  beer. 
Yet  we  have  the  Rev.  Dr.  Crosby,  at  a  temperance  meeting, 
declaring  that  beer  as  a  drink  is  as  innocent  and  harmless 
as  milk  ! 


THE  ROTTING  QUALITY  OF  BEER. 

The  fact  is  noted  in  the  Boston  Traveller,  that  the  atten- 
tion of  the  New  York  hospital  surgeons  has  been  called  to 
the  large  number  of  bartenders  that  have  lost  fingers  from 
both  hands  within  the  past  few  years.     One  case  was  that 
of  an  employee  of  a  Bowery  concert  hall.     Three  of  the 
fingers  of  his  right  hand  and  two  of  his  left  were  rotted 
away  when  he  called  at  Bellevue  one  day  and   begged  the 
doctors  to  explain  the  reason.     He  said  that  his  duty  was 
to  draw  beer  for  the  thousands  who  visited  the  garden 
nightly.     The  physicians  finally  announced  to  him  as  their 
conclusion  that  his  fingers  had  been  rotted  off  by  the  beer 
which  he  had  handled.     The  acids  and  the  resin  in  the  beer 
are  said  to  be  the  cause.     The  head  bartender  of  a  down- 
town saloon  is  quoted  as  saying  that  he  knows  of  a  number 
of  cases  where  beer-drawers  have,  in  addition  to  losing 
several  of  the  fingers  of  both  hands,  lost  the  use  of  both 


TEMPERANCE   SERVICE. 


555 


hands.  He  said :  "  I  know,  and  every  other  bartender 
knows,  that  it  is  impossible  to  keep  a  good  pair  of  shoes 
behind  the  bar."  He  added  :  "  Beer  will  rot  leather  as 
rapidly  almost  as  acid  will  eat  into  iron.  If  I  were  a  tem- 
perance orator,  I'd  ask  what  must  beer  do  to  men's  stom- 
achs, if  it  eats  men's  fingers  and  their  shoe  leather  ?  I'm 
here  to  sell  it,  but  I  won't  drink  it — not  much  !  "  We 
commend  this  significant  testimony  to  the  thoughtful  con- 
sideration of  beerdrinkers  generally. 

Temperance  Advocate. 


TOTAL   ABSTINENCE. 

ARCHBISHOP   IRELAND. 

What  difficulties  lie  in  the  way  of  total  abstinence  ? 
None  others  than  the  pleasure  of  palate,  and  the  exhilar- 
ation of  animal  spirits  which  the  alcoholic  potion  produces. 
These,  we  repeat,  and  none  others.  Strange  weakness  of 
men — I  speak  particularly  of  men  to  whom  position  and 
responsibilities  counsel  total  abstinence — strange  weakness, 
where  so  little  is  to  be  lost  and  so  much  to  be  gained  !  The 
most  skilled  medical  science  affirms  that  alcoholic  drink  is 
in  no  manner  of  means  required  by  man's  physical  organism, 
that,  indeed,  alcoholic  drink  beyond  lightest  doses  is  injuri- 
ous to  it.  The  so-called  moderate  drinking  of  social  cus- 
toms does  a  harm  to  mind  and  body — a  harm  which  is  none 
the  less  real,  because  a  strong  constitution  overcomes  it,  or 
years  are  needed  to  bring  it  to  an  observable  degree.  The 
momentary  excitement  from  alcohol  is  an  appeal  to  the 
body's  reserved  forces,  and  the  penalty  exists  in  the  reaction 
which  is  sure  to  follow.  The  most  untiring  soldier.  General 
Wolseley  testifies,  is  the  total  abstainer.  The  total  ab- 
stainer, Sir  John  Ross  writes,  endures  the  best  the  cold  of 
the  frigid  zone.  Life  insurance  companies  more  readily 
issue  policies  on  the  lives  of  total  abstainers  than  on  those 
of  moderate  drinkers. 


I 


55^  THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 

THE    BATTLE   AGAINST   ALCOHOL. 

E.  CHENERY,  M.  D. 

The  cause  we  are  in  is  a  good  one  ;  it  has  the  approval 
of  Heaven,  and  our  enemies  are  under  the  displeasure  of 
the  Almighty.  Though  weak  and  wounded,  like  General 
Corse  at  Altoona,  we  can  hold  the  fort.  To  stand  against 
the  enemy  sometimes  shows  the  stuff  that  is  in  us,  and 
gives  us  renown  as  much  as  at  other  times  to  advance. 

The  battle  is  the  Lord's  and  not  our  own,  and  we  are  in 
it  not  at  our  own  charges.  Who  fights  in  his  own  wisdom 
and  his  own  sufficiency  may  well  be  disheartened.  Not  so 
with  us  that  war  not  in  our  own  strength,  but  for  God, 
with  faith  in  his  name  and  by  his  help.  Think,  also,  of 
what  has  already  been  done. 

Satan  upset  the  table  of  our  enjoyments  at  the  first  and 
turned  humanity's  cup  upside  down,  and  all  was  lost. 
Then  came  a  faint  streak  upon  the  horizon  promising  that 
the  Seed  of  the  woman  should  bruise  our  enemy's  head. 
As  the  centuries  went  by  what  evolutions  took  place  till 
the  Man  of  men  came  visibly  to  the  field  to  reinspire  the 
faithful  and  call  out  human  agencies  as  never  before.  And 
great  Milton  but  revoiced  the  prophets  when  he  said  of  our 
Captain  : 

His  sire 
The  power  of  the  Most  High  ;   he  shall  ascend 
The  throne  hereditary,  and  bound  his  reign 
With  earth's  remotest  bounds,  his  glory  with  the  heavens. 

Already  in  our  day  this  is  being  fulfilled.  His  pickets 
are  posted  in  the  ends  of  the  earth.  There  is  no  farther 
they  can  go.  Their  lines  are  closing  in.  Thrones  and 
dominions  are  becoming  subject  to  him.  Unlike  human 
wars  our  ranks  are  not  being  depleted,  but  swell  with  every 
new  recruit,  and  these  recruits  come  from  the  enemy's  ranks. 
We  gain,  he  loses  ;  and  there  is  nothing  for  us  to  do  but  to 
keep  our  armor  bright  and  push  the  battle  on.     As  never 


TEMPERANCE   SERVICE, 


557 


before  our  hosts  are  standing  shoulder  to  shoulder,  and  there 
is  no  loss  of  strength  by  contending  with  each  other. 

Think  how  the  foremost  champion,  King  Alcohol,  is 
suffering  defeat.  He  cannot  now  ingratiate  himself  into  the 
stomachs  of  clergymen,  as  he  once  could  ;  and  now  they  are 
training  their  guns  upon  him.  Not  now  as  formerly  does 
he  find  favor  among  thoughtful  physicians.  Science  casts 
him  out  of  the  camp  and  brands  him  as  an  avowed  enemy, 
while  only  a  few  years  ago  he  was  greeted  as  a  trusted 
friend.  Thoughtful  people  are  waking  up  and  taking  sides 
against  him.  They  are  framing  laws  to  expel  him  from  the 
land,  from  many  parts  of  which  he  has  already  gone.  Girls 
and  boys  all  abroad  are  being  taught  to  see  that  he  is  wholly 
evil,  and  that  continually  ;  and  that  is  a  quiet  work  now, 
but  will  show  itself  in  mighty  power  in  the  next  generation. 
And  nothing  is  more  concerted  against  him  than  is  the  arm 
of  woman.  Surely  there  is  nothing  to  discourage  here. 
Be  patient.  Stand  to  your  guns  and  actively  await  God's 
time.  It  will  surely  come,  and  may  come  much  sooner  than 
you  expect  it.  For  one,  I  rejoice  in  the  signs  of  the  times. 
Somehow  I  feel  that  I  shall  live  to  see  a  great  victory.  So 
confident  am  I  in  this,  that  small  and  partial  apparent  set- 
backs have  no  power  to  discourage  me.  My  soul  triumphs 
in  the  justice,  the  humanity,  the  divinity  of  our  cause. 
Victory  will  come  sure  and  soon. 


THE    LICENSE    SYSTEM. 

MRS.   E.    FOSTER. 

What  we  need  to  demonstrate  is,  not  only  that  the  license 
system  is  wrong,  but  that  it  does  not  do  what  is  claimed  for 
it.  Most  persons  accept  the  fundamental  principles  on 
which  our  reform  is  based  ;  they  say  of  the  saloon  business 
that  it  is  a  bad  business,  but— but— but.  We  must  show 
these  people  that  in  no  place  in  the  world  where  license  has 
been  tried  has  it  accomplished  what  its  advocates  claim  for  it. 


558 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCASION. 


TEMPERANCE   SERVICE. 


559 


The  aggregate  amount  of  intoxicating  liquors  sold  in  any 
prohibitory  State,  even  though  the  law  is  only  partially 
enforced,  is  not  so  great  as  in  similar  territory  under  the 
best  license  laws. 

Let  us  always  enforce  that  point.  Illustrate  that  state- 
ment by  Iowa,  glorious  Iowa. 

Iowa  sits  in  shame  to-day,  because  of  the  lawlessness  of 
its  river  cities.  The  last  eruption  of  this  threatening  spirit 
was  at  Muscatine.  In  fiendish  malignity  it  exceeded  any 
former  manifestation  of  traitorous  incendiarism.  The 
homes  of  three  honored  citizens  of  that  city  were  demol- 
ished by  explosives,  and  the  lives  of  seventeen  inmates 
saved  only  by  a  miracle. 

What  was  the  provocation  ?  Who  were  these  men  ?  What 
had  they  done  ?  They  had  discharged  their  simple  duty 
to  the  State  ;  one  as  a  lawyer,  in  the  performance  of  profes- 
sional duty  ;  the  others  as  civilians,  following  the  procedure 
established  by  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Iowa. 

They  were  order-loving  men,  and  sought  to  protect  the 
homes  of  the  city  and  the  peace  of  the  commonwealth  from 
the  immorality  and  the  lawlessness  of  the  liquor  traffic. 
Your  hearts  and  mine  swell  with  indignation  at  such  mockery 
of  stable  government  and  crucifixion. of  manhood's  noblest 
endeavor. 

The  name  of  John  Mahin  vi^ill  be  set  in  Iowa's  history, 
and  written  on  the  roll  of  America's  heroes,  when  the  obliv- 
ion into  which  the  liquor  traffic  and  its  supporters  shall  sink, 
shall  illustrate  the  Scripture, ''  the  name  of  the  wicked  shall* 
rot." 

Yet  we  all  know  there  are  people  so  mean  and  small  that 
they  cry,  "Aha,  aha,  you  see  you  cannot  enforce  prohibi- 
tion; it  should  be  repealed!  "  To  these  we  reply  that  we  will 
not  yield  the  principle  of  prohibition  by  law,  though  the 
lack  of  sentiment  may  weaken  its  enforcement  in  certain 
localities  ;  to  do  so  would  be  a  concession  of  weakness  in 
our  political  system,  which  no  loyal  American  should  make. 
Let  us  keep  the  moral  standard  high,  as  Moses  did   on 


Sinai ;  we  will  try  to  keep  it  sweet,  as  Jesus  did,  when  he 
spake  his  "  Blessed,  Blessed,  Blessed,"  on  the  Mount  of 
Beatitudes. 

Again  :  as  to  local  option.  Under  our  form  of  govern- 
ment the  people  speak  through  various  constitutional  agen- 
cies. "  The  people  are  sovereign,  and  sovereignty  never 
dies  ;  "  as  our  British  friends  say,  "  The  king  never  dies." 

Sometimes  the  sovereignty  acts  through  the  general 
government ;  sometimes  through  the  commonwealths  ; 
sometimes  through  counties;  sometimes  through  munici- 
palities—but it  is  the  same  sovereignty  in  each  instance. 

Now,  if  that  sovereignty  in  the  county  says  the  saloon 
must  go,  we  call  it  local  option.  It  is  the  voice  of  the 
same  authority  in  a  limited  area,  which  speaks  in  constitu- 
tional prohibition  concerning  the  territory  of  an  entire 
State,  as  in  Maine  or  Kansas.  The  good  results  are  small 
or  great,  in  proportion  as  the  area  is  limited  or  extended. 

The  intelligent  and  robust  temperance  worker  will  con- 
tend for  every  inch  of  territory  he  can  conquer  ;  he  will 
begin  at  the  threshold  of  his  own  home  and  not  lay  down 
the  warfare  while  there  is  a  dramshop  in  any  spot  the  flag 
floats  over. 


THE   SALOON   THE  GIANT  CURSE. 

REV.    FATHER   J.   M.   CLEARY. 

The  saloon  has  placed  the  drunkard  in  the  gutter  ;  the 
saloon  has  made  the  drunkard  homeless  and  houseless. 
The  saloon  has  made  the  widow  and  the  orphan,  and  no 
man  knows  better  than  the  unfortunate  victim  of  excessive 
drinking  what  a  curse  and  enemy  to  him  the  saloon  is,  and 
because  it  is  this  enmity  to  him  he  does  not  want  the  saloon 
to  exist. 

The  total  abstainer  has  no  use  for  the  liquor  saloon. 
The  saloon  is  supported  and  maintained  by  the  respectable, 
as  they  are  denominated  and  imagine  themselves  to  be, 
moderate  drinking  classes  of  our  people.     That  is,  those 


('' 


7< 


560 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


who  are  moderate  drinkers  for  a  time,  but  who  very  often 
and  in  a  very  short  time  take  the  place  of  the  drunkard 
class,  who  have  gone  down  in  early  manhood  and  woman- 
hood to  fill  drunkards'  graves. 

So  the  saloon  exists  entirely  in  answer  to  this  public 
demand  made  upon  it  by  the  drinking  class,  by  the  class  of 
men  that  want  a  drink  in  the  morning  to  give  them  an 
appetite  for  their  breakfast,  and  another  drink  at  noontime 
to  refresh  them  after  the  morning's  toil,  and  another  drink 
in  the  evening  before  they  retire  to  rest,  because  they  are 
weary  after  the  fatigue  of  the  day  and  that  they  might 
sleep  well,  and  a  great  big  drink  in  the  morning  to  help 
them  to  wake  up  well.  In  the  summer  season  the  same 
class  want  a  drink  to  cool  them  off,  and  in  the  winter 
season  they  want  a  drink  to  warm  them  up  because  they 
are  cold,  and  when  they  meet  with  a  good  friend  who  has 
met  with  good  fortune,  they  want  to  go  and  drink  with  him 
because  they  are  glad,  and  with  another  friend  who  has 
met  with  misfortune  they  want  to  drink  with  him  because 
they  are  sorry.  And  on  account  of  this  large  class  who  live 
under  this  delusion  as  to  the  moderate  use,  as  it  is  called, 
of  strong  drink,  we  have  this  national  disgrace,  the  prosper- 
ity of  the  liquor  saloon. 

We  are  completely  in  bondage  and  slavery  by  the  vile 
influence  of  the  saloon  in  our  country.  We  talk  of  our 
great  and  free  institutions.  We  know,  of  course,  that  we 
have  the  grandest  nation  upon  which  the  sun  ever  shines. 
We  know  that  here  with  us  the  richest  and  rarest  opportu- 
nities that  have  ever  been  known  in  the  history  of  human 
civilization  are  presented  to  every  man  that  he  may  avail 
himself  of  them  to  advance  his  position  in  life.  We  know 
that  every  man's  rights  and  every  man's  privileges  are 
guarded  and  protected  by  the  grandest  flag  that  it  has 
ever  been  the  privilege  of  free  men  to  defend.  We  have 
no  criterion  of  birth,  of  caste,  of  wealth,  or  of  creed.  The 
only  criterion  that  we  recognize  is  the  criterion  of  individual 
merit  and  of  individual  worth. 


TEMPERANCE   SERVICE. 


561 


But  yet  we  must  stand  before  nations  of  the  civilized 
world  guilty  of  this  gross  and  inexcusable  folly  of  squander- 
ing enormous  sums  of  money  and  wasting  the  life  and 
strength  of  our  people,  year  after  year,  in  supporting  this 
giant  curse  among  us. 

CURES   FOR   DRUNKENNESS. 

SIR    B.  W.  RICHARDSON. 

When  I  asked  Sir  Benjamin  if  he  had  faith  in  any  of 
the  alleged  cures  for  drunkenness,  he  exclaimed  : 

**  Oh,  no  !  none  whatever ;  in  my  opinion  they're  quite 
impostures.  There  is  no  cure  for  inebriety  but  total  absti- 
nence. Of  that  I  am  quite  sure.  There  is  no  reason  to 
suppose  it  should  be  otherwise.  Alcohol  produces  a  con- 
stitution of  its  own,  it  remains  long  in  the  body  after  a 
man  has  commenced  to  be  an  abstainer,  and  so  long  as  it 
is  there  the  craving  is  there — the  desire  for  itself.  There 
is  a  sort  of  mental  attraction  for  it  which  goes  on  until 
the  thing  is  entirely  eliminated  from  the  body  ;  then  the 
taste  for  it  is  forgotten  and  the  body  is  itself  reconstituted 
out  of  healthy  material.  Then  you  have  your  perfect  ab- 
stainer, and  even  he  is  not  so  sound  as  a  person  who  has 
never  from  the  beginning  of  his  life  tasted  alcohol." 

I  remarked  on  the  growing  tendency  to  treat  confirmed 
drunkenness  as  a  disease.     Dr.  Richardson  responded  : 

**  Drunkenness  is  a  disease.  I  would  isolate  such  cases 
at  once.  The  quicker  they  leave  off  the  better.  I  have 
never  seen  any  mischief  arise  from  making  patients  abstain 
altogether  straight  away.  They  grumble  and  complain,  of 
course,  and  tell  you  they  feel  it,  and  so  forth,  but  I  have 
never  in  my  life  known  any  physical  mischief  arise  from 
it.  Patients  are  treated  as  abstainers  in  the  Temperance 
Hospital.  They  come  to  us  there  with  all  kinds  of  dis- 
eases ;  we  have  quite  as  many  non-abstainers  as  abstainers, 
and  I  never  find  any  difficulty.  I  have  just  published,  in 
the  Asclepiad,  a  lecture  on  the  first  two  hundred  cases  under 


( 


560 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


who  are  moderate  drinkers  for  a  time,  but  who  very  often 
and  in  a  very  short  time  take  the  place  of  the  drunkard 
class,  who  have  gone  down  in  early  manhood  and  woman- 
hood to  fill  drunkards*  graves. 

So  the  saloon  exists  entirely  in  answer  to  this  public 
demand  made  upon  it  by  the  drinking  class,  by  the  class  of 
men  that  want  a  drink  in  the  morning  to  give  them  an 
appetite  for  their  breakfast,  and  another  drink  at  noontime 
to  refresh  them  after  the  morning's  toil,  and  another  drink 
in  the  evening  before  they  retire  to  rest,  because  they  are 
weary  after  the  fatigue  of  the  day  and  that  they  might 
sleep  well,  and  a  great  big  drink  in  the  morning  to  help 
them  to  wake  up  well.  In  the  sunimer  season  the  same 
class  want  a  drink  to  cool  them  off,  and  in  the  winter 
season  they  want  a  drink  to  warm  them  up  because  they 
are  cold,  and  when  they  meet  with  a  good  friend  who  has 
met  with  good  fortune,  they  want  to  go  and  drink  with  him 
because  they  are  glad,  and  with  another  friend  who  has 
met  with  misfortune  they  want  to  drink  with  him  because 
they  are  sorry.  And  on  account  of  this  large  class  who  live 
under  this  delusion  as  to  the  moderate  use,  as  it  is  called, 
of  strong  drink,  we  have  this  national  disgrace,  the  prosper- 
ity of  the  liquor  saloon. 

We  are  completely  in  bondage  and  slavery  by  the  vile 
influence  of  the  saloon  in  our  country.  We  talk  of  our 
great  and  free  institutions.  We  know,  of  course,  that  we 
have  the  grandest  nation  upon  which  the  sun  ever  shines. 
We  know  that  here  with  us  the  richest  and  rarest  opportu- 
nities that  have  ever  been  known  in  the  history  of  human 
civilization  are  presented  to  every  man  that  he  may  avail 
himself  of  them  to  advance  his  position  in  life.  We  know 
that  every  man's  rights  and  every  man's  privileges  are 
guarded  and  protected  by  the  grandest  flag  that  it  has 
ever  been  the  privilege  of  free  men  to  defend.  We  have 
no  criterion  of  birth,  of  caste,  of  wealth,  or  of  creed.  The 
only  criterion  that  we  recognize  is  the  criterion  of  individual 
merit  and  of  individual  worth. 


TEMPERANCE   SERVICE. 


561 


But  yet  we  must  stand  before  nations  of  the  civilized 
world  guilty  of  this  gross  and  inexcusable  folly  of  squander- 
ing enormous  sums  of  money  and  wasting  the  life  and 
strength  of  our  people,  year  after  year,  in  supporting  this 
giant  curse  among  us. 

CURES   FOR   DRUNKENNESS. 

SIR    B.  W.  RICHARDSON. 

When  I  asked  Sir  Benjamin  if  he  had  faith  in  any  of 
the  alleged  cures  for  drunkenness,  he  exclaimed  : 

**  Oh,  no  !  none  whatever  ;  in  my  opinion  they're  quite 
impostures.  There  is  no  cure  for  inebriety  but  total  absti- 
nence. Of  that  I  am  quite  sure.  There  is  no  reason  to 
suppose  it  should  be  otherwise.  Alcohol  produces  a  con- 
stitution of  its  own,  it  remains  long  in  the  body  after  a 
man  has  commenced  to  be  an  abstainer,  and  so  long  as  it 
is  there  the  craving  is  there — the  desire  for  itself.  There 
is  a  sort  of  mental  attraction  for  it  which  goes  on  until 
the  thing  is  entirely  eliminated  from  the  body  ;  then  the 
taste  for  it  is  forgotten  and  the  body  is  itself  reconstituted 
out  of  healthy  material.  Then  you  have  your  perfect  ab- 
stainer,  and  even  he  is  not  so  sound  as  a  person  who  has 
never  from  the  beginning  of  his  life  tasted  alcohol." 

I  remarked  on  the  growing  tendency  to  treat  confirmed 
drunkenness  as  a  disease.     Dr.  Richardson  responded  : 

**  Drunkenness  is  a  disease.  I  would  isolate  such  cases 
at  once.  The  quicker  they  leave  off  the  better.  I  have 
never  seen  any  mischief  arise  from  making  patients  abstain 
altogether  straight  away.  They  grumble  and  complain,  of 
course,  and  tell  you  they  feel  it,  and  so  forth,  but  I  have 
never  in  my  life  known  any  physical  mischief  arise  from 
it.  Patients  are  treated  as  abstainers  in  the  Temperance 
Hospital.  They  come  to  us  there  with  all  kinds  of  dis- 
eases ;  we  have  quite  as  many  non-abstainers  as  abstainers, 
and  I  never  find  any  difficulty.  I  have  just  published,  in 
the  Asclepiad,  a  lecture  on  the  first  two  hundred  cases  under 


) 


562 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION, 


TEMPERANCE   SERVICE, 


563 


my  care.  I  never  found  a  single  patient  who  asked  for  a 
stimulant.  When  alcohol  drinkers  see  other  people  getting 
on  without  alcohol,  they  never  seem  to  think  about  it.  It 
is  a  remarkable  object  lesson  to  see  a  man  lying  in  one  bed 
accustomed  all  his  life  to  some  spirit  beverage,  and  an  ab- 
stainer in  the  next  bed,  and  no  difference  between  them  as 
regards  their  need  of  spirits,  beer,  or  wine." 

**  Do  the  results  obtained  at  the  Temperance  hospitals 
sustain  your  views  as  to  the  needlessness  of  alcohol  ?  " 

*'  Remarkably  so.  We  need  not  be  ashamed  to  compare 
ourselves  with  any  hospital  in  the  world  as  regards  our  re- 
sults. Remembering  that  we  are  situated  in  the  midst  of  a 
crowded  population,  I  believe  our  results  would  stand 
splendidly  forward.  But  I  don't  like  to  make  comparisons: 
it  looks  egotistical." 

'*  And  do  you  banish  alcohol  altogether  from  your  phar- 
macopoeia ? " 

''  1  have  never  prescribed  intentionally  alcohol  since  I 
have  been  in  the  hospital.  To  be  very  exact,  there  are 
certain  tinctures  which  can  only  be  made  by  alcohol,  and 
so,  rarely,  I  may  have  prescribed  them,  but  never  with  the 
idea  of  giving  alcohol.  We  are  so  particular  in  the  hospital 
that  we  use  glycerine  instead  of  alcohol  for  making  our 
tinctures,  and  it  is  only  exceptionally  that  we  do  not  pre- 
scribe in  that  form." 

Selected, 

WANTED— A  CRUSADE. 

Aggressive  and  objective  work  is  the  only  thing  that 
will  keep  any  organization  permanently  alive.  A  political 
party  with  no  fight  in  it,  and  nothing  to  fight  for,  would 
soon  cease  to  exist.  A  church  without  a  definite  mission 
to  perform,  and  a  definite  devil  to  contend  with,  would 
speedily  be  in  need  of  an  epitaph.  All  institutions  and 
organizations,  as  Mrs.  Partington  would  say,  must  have 
"  suthin'  to  butt  agenst "  in  order  to  keep  themselves  alive 
and  vigorous  ;  and  this  is  just  as  true  of  a  religious  organ- 


ic 


Wil 


ization  as  of  any  other.  Its  vitality  depends  upon  its 
aggressiveness. 

This  whole  continent  of  ours  is  groaning  under  the 
terrible  slavery  of  the  liquor  power.  But  how  long  could 
that  power  endure  if  the  Epworth  League  and  the  Chris- 
tian Endeavor  Society  should  join  hands  and  hearts  against 
it,  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  confines  of  eternal  snow, 
and  from  Boston's  gilded  dome  to  San  Francisco's  Golden 
Gate  ?  It  would  waste  away  like  the  host  of  Sennacherib 
before  the  sword  of  the  Lord's  angel. 

Wanted — a  crusade  ;  something  objective  ;  something 
all-enlisting  ;  something  to  set  souls  on  fire  with  indigna- 
tion and  resolve.  That  is  the  perpetual  need  of  any  organ- 
ization with  the  breath  of  true  and  enduring  life  in  it. 
That  is  the.  need  of  the  united  young  people  of  all  our 
churches,  of  whatever  denomination,  throughout  America. 
Out  of  the  Christian  training-school  into  the  Christian 
arena — is  not  that  the  true  law  of  spiritual  development 

and  accomplishment  ? 

Zions  Herald. 

STATISTICS   OF   LIQUOR  TRAFFIC. 

U.  S.  INTERNAL  REVENUE  REPORTS. 

The  idea  that  intemperance  was  to  be  overcome  by  pro- 
hibitory and  restrictive  legislation,  led  its  advocates  to 
relax  their  efforts  to  reduce  it  by  moral  suasion.  The 
legislative  method  having  failed  to  achieve  all  that  was 
unreasonably  expected  of  it,  temperance  advocates  became 
discouraged,  and  discouragement  seems  fitly  to  characterize 
the  present  state  of  mind  concerning  the  drink  habit. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  evil  is  firmly  fixed  among  the 
people  of  this  country.  The  facts,  which  every  man  may 
study  for  himself,  give  little  ground  for  joyfuliiess.  The 
traffic  is  a  profitable  one,  and  men  pursue  it  for  the  gains 
it  brings,  regardless  of  other  results.  As  the  number  of 
sellers  is  large,  rising  to  nearly  230,000,  the  number  of 
drinkers  must  be  reckoned,  not  by  thousands  or  hundreds 


>».  ^.^^.KM!..'-.:,,^^^^  ..««>, ^.M■^fa«.^l^-^,:^^^■3<&:«^^-.■  J^.ffi.K.,,,,,acfc^g.iSi;VA*..:i^  J.^-^:^J!i^ 


5^4 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


of  thousands,  but  by  millions.  We  cannot  escape  the  infer- 
ence that  this  nation  is  a  nation  given  to  drink.  For  the 
year  ending  June  30,  1893,  according  to  the  report  of  the 
United  States  Commissioner  of  Internal  Revenue,  more 
than  1,171,000,000  gallons  of  liquor  were  "  withdrawn  for 
consumption."  This  allows  nearly  19  gallons  to  every  man, 
woman,  and  child  in  the  United  States.  Estimating  the 
number  of  women  who  do  not  drink  and  the  number  of 
children  too  young  to  drink,  at  35,000,000,  we  have  left 
about  28,000,000  of  drinking  men  and  women.  But  in  this 
number  are  included  all  men  who  are  total  abstainers. 
Making  allowance  for  these  the  population  of  drinkers  is 
reduced  to,  perhaps,  20,000,000.  This  would  raise  the 
amount  consumed  per  capita,  not  taking  account  of  the 
quantities  diverted  to  mechanical,  medicinal,  chemical,  and 
culinary  uses,  to  somewhere  between  50  and  60  gallons. 
Nobody  knows  what  the  exact  figures  are,  but  it  is  certain 
that  they  are  large.  Somewhat  more  than  eight  per  cent, 
of  the  total  gallons  consumed  is  of  distilled  liquors. 

The  revenues  on  distilled  and  malt  liquors  collected  by 
the  Government  in  1893  amount  to  nearly  $127,250,000. 
This  the  consumers  paid,  together  with  the  cost  of  distilling 
and  brewing  and  the  immense  profits  of  the  wholesale  and 
retail  dealers.  The  great  bulk  of  the  enormous  aggregate 
thus  expended  annually  is  worse  than  wasted.  The  econ- 
omical loss  is  something  frightful  to  contemplate  in  these 
hard  times,  but  it  is  as  nothing  compared  with  the  moral 
and  physical  disasters  involved.  Everybody  knows  some- 
thing of  the  monstrous  evils,  unequaled  by  any  other 
agency  known  to  men  ;  but  nobody  half  realizes  what  they 
are  ;  figures  cannot  illustrate  them  ;  they  can  only  at  best 
give  a  faint  idea  of  them.  And  the  figures  are  so  large 
that  they  seem  to  paralyze  rather  than  quicken  the  activity 
of  reformers,  and  make  the  prospect  of  successful  effort 
well  nigh  hopeless. 

But  bad  as  the  situation  is,  there  is  some  consolation  to 
know  that  it  has  been  worse.     We  get  some  grains  of  en- 


TEMPERANCE   SERVICE. 


56 


couragement  from  the  following  table,  compiled  by  the 
Rev.  John  F.  Loyd  of  Delaware,  O.,  to  show  the  gains  and 
losses  of  twenty  years,  on  the  basis  of  internal  revenue 
reports  : 

THE   RETAIL   LIQUOR    TRAFFIC    IN    1873    AND    1893. 


Alabama 

Arkansas 

California  and  Nevada 

Colorado  and  Wyoming 

Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island 

Florida 

Georgia 

Illinois 

Indiana 

Iowa 

Kansas  and  Oklahoma 

Kentucky 

Louisiana  and  Mississippi 

Maryland,  Delaware,  and  Dist.  Col, 

Massachusetts 

Michigan 

Minnesota 

Missouri 

Montana,  Idaho,  and  Utah 

Nebraska,  N.  Dakota,  and  S.  Dakota 
New  Hampshire,  Maine,  and  Vermont 

New  Jersey 

New  Mexico  and  Arizona 

New  York 

North  Carolina 

Ohio 

Oregon,  Washington,  and  Alaska. . . . 

Pennsylvania 

South  Carolina 

Tennessee 

Texas 

Virginia 

Wisconsin 

West  Virginia 


Retail  Tiquor 
Dealers. 


1873 


2,172 
1,820 
7,352 
1,140 

3,683 
916 

3,484 

11,764 

4,926 

3,676 
1,806 
5,296 
6,192 
8,066 
8,264 
8,488 
2,368 
7,516 
1,168 
920 
3.264 

7,536 
704 

40,844 
2,496 

12,972 
1,032 

20,972 
2,152 
3#4 
5,032 
3.540 
4,388 

732 


1893 


Total  United  States 200,676- 


1,175 

738 

13,758 

3,563 

5,059 

453 

1,794 

9,784 

8,947 
6,276 

3,446 
5,048 
5,350 
6,284 

5,246 
8,386 

3,925 
8,890 

3,502 
4,187 
3,350 
8,948 

1,357 
48,566 

1,414 

17,085 

3,853 

13,783 

873 
2,466 

5,552 
2,789 

8,975 
1,438 


Inhabitants  to 
each  Dealer. 


1873 


229,936 


459 
266 

82 

43 
205 

205 

339 
216 

342 

323 
202 
219 
250 
129 
176 

139 
186 

229 

106 

149 

391 
120 

144 

107 

429 
204 

no 

167 

328 

317 
162 

346 
240 
603 


1893 


192 


1,387 

1,529 

91 

133 

216 

414 
1,024 
192 
258 
304 

431 

368 

448 
229 

425 
256 

332 

303 
121 

375 
411 
162 

157 
141 

1. 144 
215 
172 

383 

1,319 

717 

402 

594 

188 

534 


272 


ubu  mjtum^ifm^}K$^!!»tBem»ttiimfm?iw^ 


566 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  0  CCA  SWAT. 


From  this  table  it  appears  that  there  are  272  inhabitants 
now  to  one  liquor  dealer,  while  in  1873  the  proportion  was 
192  to  one.  This  may  mean  much  or  it  may  mean  little. 
It  is  possible  that  the  average  dealer  does  a  larger  business 
than  he  used  to,  at  least  in  the  cities.  In  rural  States  like 
Alabama  and  Arkansas  it  unquestionably  implies  a  reduc- 
tion in  sales.  Considering  every  retail  dealer  as  engaged 
for  business  purposes  in  conducting  a  school  for  the  propa- 
gation of  the  drink  habit,  we  have  in  the  230,000  school- 
masters in  vice  a  tremendous  problem  of  reform.  There 
are  far  less  than  half  as  many  ministers,  somewhat  more 
than  half  as  many  churches,  and  not  so  many  Sunday 
schools  by  a  hundred  thousand. 

Against  the  formidable  army  of  the  Devil  what  forces 
can  be  mustered  for  reform  ?  We  have  the  Church  ;  the 
Sunday  school  ;  the  day  school,  where  the  effects  of  drink 
are  scientifically  taught  to  opening  minds;  temperance 
organizations,  including  the  mighty  W.  C.  T.  U. ;  millions 
of  praying  mothers  and  anxious  fathers.  Let  these  forces 
be  massed  for  educational,  preventive,  and  rescue  work. 
Let  there  be  everywhere  a  gospel  crusade,  such  as  Mr. 
Murphy  conducts,  against  the  drink  habit.  The  work 
must  be  a  personal  work,  pursued  persistently,  and  with 
trust  in  the  Divine  power. 

All  progress  made  in  this  direction  is  real  progress.  We 
know  no  other  sure  way  leading  to  the  final  overthrow  of 
the  drink  traffic.  There  must  be  a  body  of  abstainers 
before  there  can  be  effective  prohibition.  We  want  more 
abstainers. 

JVew  York  Independent, 

CHRISTIAN    ENDE4VORERS    AND    THE    DRAM- 
SHOPS. 

REV.    D.  J.   BURRELL. 

A  TRUE  Endeavorer  should  be  on  duty  close  by  the  dram- 
shop. There  is  no  more  portentious  menace  to  our  liber- 
ties than  this.     In  the  city  of  New  York   there  are  nine 


TEMPERANCE   SERVICE. 


S^l 


thousand  saloons.     That  fact  alone  is  portentious,  when  we 
reflect  that  every  one  of  them  is  an  open  doorway  into  the 
realm  of    darkness.     But  there   are  other  considerations 
which  give  it  a  still  broader  and  deeper  significance.     Five 
thousand,  or  more  than  half,  of  these  saloons  are  under 
chattel  mortgages,  and  these  mortgages  are,  with  scarcely 
an  exception,  held  by  a  syndicate  of  twenty  men— brewers, 
distillers,  and  wholesale  liquor  dealers.     The  full  meaning 
of  that  statement  is  not  grasped  until  we  go  on  to  consider 
that  each  saloon,  at  a  moderate  estimate,  controls  twenty 
votes,  which  gives  to  the  rumsellers  of  New  York  City  the 
balance  of  political  power.     But  it  is  a  proverb  that  the 
vote  of  New  York  City  determines  the  political  complexion 
of  the  commonwealth,  and,  furthermore,  as  goes  the  com- 
monwealth of  New  York,  so  goes  the  nation  !     What  then 
is  the  conclusion  of  the  matter?     The   destinies  of   the 
American  people  are  practically  in  the  grasp  of  a  group  of 
less  than  twenty  liquor  dealers  !     Were  it  not  for  certain 
moral  restraints  put  upon  this  formidable  power  by  public 
sentiment  the  outlook  would  be  as  black  as  midnight.     As 
it  is  it  behooves  every  lover  of  law  and  order  and  national 
prosperity  to  use  his  utmost  influence  against  the  dramshop. 
It  is  not  for  us  at  this  point  either  to  call  in  question  or  to 
concede  the  right  of  the  individual  to  take  a  social  or  even 
a  convivial  glass.     We  are  not  talking  about  rights,  but 
about  Christian  duties  and  privileges.     There  is  one  right 
which  in  the  Christian  life  towers  above  all  others  ;  it  is  the 
right  to  surrender  all  rights  for  the  sake  of  one's  fellow 
men.     This  is  the  mind  that  was  in  Christ  Jesus,  who,  pos- 
sessing all  the  inalienable  rights  of  Godhead,  emptied  him- 
self and  became  of  no  reputation  for  us.     This  the  mind  that 
was  in  the  Apostle  Paul  also  when  he  said,  *'  If  meat  make 
my  brother  to  offend,  I  will  eat  no  meat  while  the  world 
standeth  !  "      Never  was  a  grander  manifesto  of  human 
rights— never  a  sublimer  declaration  of  independence  than 
tliat !     Oh,  young  men,  to  whom  the  welfare  of  the  nation 
is  presently  to  be  committed,  be  "  on  duty  "  just  there. 


iUfe^^ldMU£!|^UMCM^^iaMMtf^^iMs£H^± 


^^.^       ■^■>^j;^'^/faA.^..k,?-^aaa^^.Aa--g.zvJ.t-,v"'^A,;^^ 


5^^ 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE  OCCAStOl^. 


EFFECTS  OF  PROHIBITION  IN  ATLANTA,  GA. 

HON.   HENRY   W.   GRADY. 

When  you  %o  to  get  the  effect  of  a  new  movement  for 
good  or  evil,  where  do  you  go  ?  Not  to  the  rich  and  idle, 
because  you  may  swell  or  diminish  their  income  and  yet  not 
change  their  habits;  you  simply  diminish  the  hidden  sur- 
plus. Nor  to  the  middle  class,  because  when  you  diminish 
their  income  they  simply  pinch  themselves  and  pinch  so 
quietly  that  their  neighbors  do  not  know  it  ;  or  swell  their 
incomes  and  they  loosen  out  a  little  and  pass  something  up 
to  surplus.  You  cannot  tell  it  there.  But  go  to  the  poorer 
classes,  the  men  who  labor  for  their  daily  bread,  and  whose 
wages  barely  suffice  to  give  it  to  them,  and  there  you  find 
the  first  signs  of  a  good  or  evil  movement.  It  is  at  once  the 
truth  and  reproach  of  our  civilization,  that  starvation  fol- 
lows so  close  on  labor  that  an  evil  movement  is  detected  in 
the  hollow  cheeks  of  little  children  and  the  haggard  faces 
of  women  before  it  is  made  manifest  to  the  higher  classes. 

Let  me  show  you  some  facts — my  facts  ;  they  always  come 
out,  remember  that  ;  they  have  been  laughed  at  a  good  deal, 
but  they  always  get  there.  When  you  want  to  discover  the 
effect  on  the  city  you  all  agree  that  you  must  go  to  the 
poorer  classes,  because  to  pinch  them  means  distress  ;  it 
means  outcry  ;  and  to  help  them  means  to  still  the  cry  and 
soothe  the  distress. 

One  of  Atlanta's  capitalists  rents  houses  to  thirteen  hun- 
dred tenants.  He  states  that  he  has  issued  in  the  last  year 
one  distress  warrant  to  where  he  issued  twenty  two  years 
ago.  I  claim  to  be  an  intelligent  man  with  some  courage  of 
conviction,  but  I  pledge  you  my  word,  if  that  one  fact  were 
established  to  my  satisfaction,  I  would  vote  for  this  thing 
if  I  never  heard  another  word  on  this  subject.  Have  you 
thought  what  that  means— a  distress  warrant  ?  It  means 
eviction  ;  it  means  the  very  thing  that  is  to-day  kindling 
the  heart  of  this  world  for  poor  Ireland.  It  means  eviction  ! 
It  means  turning  woman  and  her  little  children  out  of  the 


TEMPERANCE   SERVICE. 


569 


home  that  covers  them,  and  to  which  they  are  entitled.  I 
was  astonished  at  this  statement.  Another,  who  rents  six 
or  eight  hundred  houses,  says  :  "  I  used  to  issue  two  or 
three  distress  warrants— four  or  five— a  month.  I  have 
not  issued  a  single  one  in  eighteen  months."  Now  both  of 
them  are  Prohibitionists.  Let  me  try  you  with  still  another. 
He  was  an  anti-prohibitionist.  He  said  :  ''  My  distress 
warrants  averaged  thirty-six  to  the  year,  and  I  have  not 
issued  one  in  twelve  months." 

Is  there  any  possible  answer  to  that  ?  Is  there  any  indus- 
trial, any  social,  any  economic  revolution  that  has  been 
worked  since  this  world  began  that  would  account  for  the 
diminution  in  this  most  vicious  and  intolerable  of  legal  enact- 
ments ?    Have  you  thought  about  what  a  distress  warrant  is  ? 

Have  you  ever  thought  about  a  woman  being  turned  out 
of  her  house— the  little  cottage  that  covers  her  and  her 
children?  Can  you  picture— you  who  live  in  comfortable 
homes  filled  with  light  and  warmth  and  books  and  joy  ;  can 
you  think  of  these  people— human  beings,  our  brothers  and 
sisters— the  poor  mother,  brave  though  her  heart  is  break- 
ing, huddling  her  little  children  about  her  ;  and  the  father 
weak  but  loving,  and  loving  all  the  deeper  because  he  knows 
his  weakness  has  brought  them  to  this  want  and  degradation; 
and  little  children,  those  of  whom  our  Saviour  said,  "  Suffer 
them  to  come  unto  me  and  forbid  them  not,"  there  asking, 
*'  Mamma,  where  will  we  sleep  to-night  ?  "—can  you  picture 
that  and  then  their  taking  themselves  up  and  the  woman 
putting  her  hand  with  undying  love  and  faith  in  the  hand 
of  the  man  she  swore  to  follow  through  good  and  evil  report, 
and  marching  up  and  down  the  street— this  pitiable  proces- 
sion—through the  unthinking  streets,  by  laughing  children 
and  shining  windows,  looking  for  a  hole  where,  like  the 
foxes,  they  may  hide  their  poor  heads? 

They  talk  to  you  about  personal  liberty  ;  that  a  man 
should  have  the  right  to  go  into  a  grog  shop  and  see 
this  pitiful  procession— now  stopped— parading  up  and 
down  our   streets   again.     They   talk   to   you    about    the 


II 


570 


THOUGHTS  FOk    THE   OCCASIOI^T. 


shades  of  Washington,  Jefferson,  and  Monroe.  I  would 
not  give  one  happy,  rosy  little  woman,  uplifted  from  that 
degradation— happy  again  in  her  home,  with  the  cricket 
chirping  on  her  hearthstone  and  her  children  about  her 
knees,  her  husband  redeemed  from  drink  at  her  side— I 
would  not  give  one  of  them  for  all  the  shades  of  all  the 
men  that  ever  contended  since  Cataline  conspired  and 
Caesar  fought. 

I  examined  the  city  court  criminal  docket  this  afternoon, 
and  it  shows  a  marked  and  steady  increase  in  misdemean- 
ors from  1881  to  1885;  a  falling  off  of  twenty  per  cent,  in 
1886  ;   the  record  of   1887  shows  313  indictments,  against 
675  in  1885,  and  440  in  1886.     Mark  that.     An  increase  to 
1885  ;  and  in  1886  there  was  a  decrease  from  675  cases  to 
440.     That  was  with  the  experiment  only  half  tried.     The 
present  docket  extends  from  1881  to  1887.     Crime  in  1887 
less  than  half  that  of  '85,  and  less  than  any  year  of  the 
docket.     There  was  scarcely  a  case  of  vagrancy  for  a  year 
past.     I  assume  to  keep  no  man's  conscience  ;  I  assume  to 
judge  for  no  man  ;    I  do  not  assume  that  I  am  better  than 
any  man,  but  that  I  am  weaker,  but  I  say  this  to  you,  I  have 
a  boy  as  dear  to  me  as  the  ruddy  drops  that  gather  about 
this  heart.     I  find  my  hopes  already  centering  in  his  little 
body,  and  I   look  to  him  to-night  to  take  to  himself  the 
work  that,  strive  as  I  may,  must  fall  unfinished  at  last  from 
my  hands.     Now,  I  know  they  say  it  is  proper  to  educate  a 
boy  at  home  ;  that  if  he  is  taught  right  at  home  he  will 
not  go  wrong.     That  is  a  lie  to  begin  with,  but  that  don't 
matter.     I  have  seen  sons  of  some  as  good  people  as  ever 
lived  turn   out   badly.     I  accept    my   responsibility   as   a 
father.     That  boy  may  fall   from  the  right  path  as  things 
now  exist.     If  he  does,  I  shall  bear  that  sorrow  with  such 
resignation   as   I    may,   but   I  tell  you,  if  I  were  to  vote 
to   recall    bar-rooms   to   this   city,  when    I   know    that    it 
has  prospered  in  their  absence,  and  that  boy  should  fall 
through  their  agency,  I  tell  you— and  this  conviction  has 
come  to  me  in  the  still  watches  of  the  night— I  could  not, 


TEMPERANCE   SERVICE. 


571 


wearing  the  crowning  sorrow  of  his  disgrace  and  looking 
into  the  eyes  of  her  whose  heart  he  had  broken,  I  could 
not,  if  I  had  voted  to  recall  those  bar-rooms,  find  answer 
for  my  conscience  or  support  for  my  remorse.  I  don't 
know  how  any  other  father  feels,  but  that  is  the  way  I  feel, 
if  God  permits  me  to  utter  the  truth. 

The  best  reforms  of  this  earth  come  through  waste  and 
storm  and  doubt  and  suspicion;  the  sun  itself  when  it 
rises  on  each  day  wastes  the  radiance  of  the  moon  and 
blots  the  starlight  from  the  skies,  but  only  to  unlock  the 
earth  from  the  clasp  of  night  and  plant  the  stars  anew  in 
the  opening  flowers.  Behind  that  sun,  as  behind  this  move- 
ment, we  may  be  sure  there  stands  the  Lord  God  Almighty, 
master  and  maker  of  this  universe,  from  whose  hand  the 
spheres  are  rolled  to  their  orbits,  and  whose  voice  has  been 
the  harmony  of  this  world  since  the  morning  stars  sang 
together. 

EFFECTS   OF   PROHIBITION    IN   MAINE. 

NEAL  DOW. 

Maine  is  now  one  of  the  most  prosperous  States  in  the 
Union  ;  but  before  the  adoption  of  prohibition  it  was  the 
poorest.  The  whole  face  of  the  State  has  been  changed— for 
the  better.  Before  the  law  there  were  conspicuous  indications 
everywhere  of  dilapidation,  unthrift,  and  decay,  in  shabby 
churches,  shabby  schoolhouses,  shabby  dwellings,  neglected 
and  shabby  barns.  Now  there  is  nothing  of  all  that ;  but 
everywhere  are  seen  conclusive  proofs  of  industry,  activity, 
enterprise,  and  thrift,  .  .  .  everywhere  unmistakable  proofs 
of  an  industrious  and  thrifty  people.  Our  people  used  to 
spend  in  strong  drink  the  entire  valuation  of  the  State  in 
every  period  of  twenty  years,  as  the  nation  is  now  doing 
every  period  of  thirty-five  years.  Our  State  saves  annually, 
directly  and  indirectly,  more  than  twenty  millions  of  dollars, 
which  but  for  prohibition  would  be  spent,  lost,  and  wasted 
in  drink.     In  1894,  after  an  experience  of  the  benefits  of 


■  ■-'-■^-■"^'•■■-•■^^■■tJiW.jyiiBti-njlAi-alaniaiTkiaai 


i 


572 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


prohibition  for  thirty-three  years,  that  policy  was  put  into 
our  constitution  by  a  popular  vote,  the  majority  being 
47»o75  *>  the  affirmative  being  three  times  larger  than  the 
negative. 


USE  ONLY  THE  BEST  LIQUOR! 

JOHN    B.   GOUGH. 

On  a  certain  occasion  Paul  Denton,  a  Methodist  preacher 
in  Texas,  advertised  a  barbecue,  with  better  liquor  than  is 
usually  furnished.  When  the  people  assembled  a  desperado 
in  the  crowd  cried  out,  **  Mr.  Paul  Denton,  your  rev^erence 
has  lied.  You  promised  not  only  a  good  barbecue,  but  the 
best  of  liquors.     Where's  the  liquor?" 

**  There,"  answered  the  missionary  in  tones  of  thunder, 
and  pointing  his  long,  bony  finger  at  the  matchless  double 
spring  gushing  up  in  two  strong  columns,  with  a  sound  like 
a  shout  of  joy,  from  the  bosom  of  the  earth.  *' There,"  he 
repeated,  "is  the  liquor  which  God  the  eternal  brews  for 
all  his  children. 

•*  Not  in  the  simmering  still,  over  smoky  fires  choked 
with  poisonous  gases,  and  surrounded  with  the  stench  of 
sickening  odors  and  corruption,  doth  your  Father  in  heaven 
prepare  the  precious  essence  of  life — pure  cold  water.  But 
in  the  glade  and  grassy  dell,  where  the  red  deer  wanders 
and  the  child  loves  to  play,  there  God  brews  it ;  and  down, 
low  down  in  the  deepest  valleys,  where  the  fountain  mur- 
murs and  the  rills  sing,  and  high  up  on  the  mountain  tops, 
where  the  naked  granite  glitters  like  gold  in  the  sun,  where 
storm-clouds  brood  and  the  thunderstorms  crash  ;  and  out 
on  the  wild,  wide  sea,  where  the  hurricane  howls  music  and 
the  big  waves  roar  the  chorus,  sweeping  the  march  of  God — 
there  he  brews  it — beverage  of  life,  health-giving  water. 
And  everywhere  it  is  a  thing  of  beauty,  gleaming  in  the 
dewdrop,  singing  in  the  summer  rain,  shining  in  the  icicles, 
till  they  seem  turned  to  living  gems  ;  spreading  a  golden 
veil  over  the  setting  sun,  or  a  white  gauze  around  the  mid- 


TEMPERANCE   SERVICE. 


573 


' 


night  moon  ;  sporting  in  the  cataract,  sleeping  in  the 
glacier,  dancing  in  the  hail  shower ;  folding  its  bright  cur- 
tains softly  around  the  wintry  world,  and  weaving  the  many 
colored  bow  ;  that  seraph's  zone  of  the  air,  whose  warp  is 
the  rain-drops  of  the  earth,  and  whose  woof  is  the  sunbeams 
of  heaven,  all  checkered  over  with  the  celestial  flowers  of 
the  mystic  hand  of  refraction— that  blessed  life-water.  No 
poison  bubbles  on  its^brink  ;  its  foam  brings  not  madness 
and  murder  ;  no  blood  stains  its  liquid  glass  ;  pale  widows 
and  starving  children  weep  not  burning  tears  in  its  depths! 
Speak  out,  my  friends  ;  would  you  exchange  it  for  the 
demon's  drink,  alcohol?" 

A  shout  like  the  roar  of  the  tempest  answered,  ''  No  !  " 


A  Shot  at  the  Decanter. — There  is  a  current  story 
that  a  Quaker  once  discovered  a  thief  in  his  house  ;  and, 
taking  down  his  grandfather's  old  fowling-piece,  he  quietly 
said,  "Friend,  thee  had  better  get  out  of  the  way,  for  I 
intend  to  fire  this  gun  right  7vhere  thee  stands''  With  the 
same  considerate  spirit  we  warn  certain  good  people  that 
they  had  better  take  the  decanter  off  their  table,  for  we 
intend  to  aim  a  Bible  truth  right  where  that  decanter  stands. 
It  is  in  the  wrong  place.  It  has  no  more  business  to  be 
there  at  all  than  the  thief  had  to  be  in  the  honest  Quaker's 
house.  We  are  not  surprised  to  find  a  decanter  of  alcoholic 
poison  on  the  counter  of  a  dramshop  whose  keeper  is 
"  licensed"  to  sell  death  by  measure.  But  we  are  surprised 
to  find  it  on  the  table  or  the  sideboard  of  one  who  professes 
to  be  guided  by  the  spirit  and  the  teachings  of  God's 
Word.  That  bottle  stands  right  in  the  range  of  the  fol- 
lowing inspired  utterances  of  St.  Paul :  "  It  is  good  neither 
to  eat  flesh,  nor  to  drink  tviue,  nor  anything  whereby  thy 
brother  stumhlethr  This  text  must  either  go  out  of  the 
Christian's  Bible,  or  the  bottle  go  off  the  Christian's  table. 
The  text  will  not  move,  and  the  bottle  must. 

REV.  THEO.  L.  CUYLER,  D.  D, 


/ 


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574 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


V. 


TEMPERANCE   SERVICE. 


SIS 


The  Lmpeachment  of  Alcohol. — We  are  here  to  con- 
front the  great  enemy  of  our  time  ;  to  handle  the  greatest 
living  question.  This  monster  has  the  world  for  a  home, 
the  flesh  for  a  mother,  and  the  devil  for  a  father.  He 
stands  erect,  a  monster  of  fabulous  proportions.  He  has 
no  head,  and  cannot  think.  He  has  no  heart,  and  cannot 
feel.  He  has  no  eyes,  and  cannot  see.  He  has  no  ears, 
and  cannot  hear.  He  has  only  an  instinct  by  which  to  plan, 
a  passion  by  which  to  allure,  a  coil  by  which  to  bind,  a  fang 
with  which  to  sting,  and  an  infinite  maw  in  which  to  con- 
sume his  victims.  I  impeach  this  monster,  and  arraign  him 
before  the  bar  of  public  judgment,  and  demand  his  condem- 
nation in  the  name  of  industry  robbed  and  beggared  ;  of 
the  public  peace  disturbed  and  broken  ;  of  private  safety 
gagged  and  garroted  ;  of  common  justice  violated  and 
trampled  ;  of  the  popular  conscience  debauched  and  pros- 
tituted ;  of  royal  manhood  wrecked  and  ruined  ;  and  of 
helpless  innocence  waylaid  and  assassinated. 

REV.  CHARLES  H.  FOWLER,  D.  D. 

Bad  Example  a  Stumbling-Block. — The  inherent 
wrong  of  using  intoxicating  drinks  is  twofold,  i.  It  ex- 
poses to  danger  the  man  who  tampers  with  it  ;  for  no  man 
was  ever  positively  assured  by  his  Creator  that  he  could 
play  with  the  "adder"  that  lies  coiled  in  a  wine  cup  with- 
out being  stung  by  it.  2.  It  puts  a  stumbling-block  in  the 
way  of  him  whom  we  are  commanded  to  love  as  ourselves. 
We  lay  down,  then,  the  proposition  that  no  man  has  a  moral 
right  to  do  anything  the  influence  of  which  is  certainly  and 
inevitably  hurtful  to  his  neighbor.  I  have  a  legal  right  to 
do  many  things  which  as  a  Christian  I  cannot  do.  I  have 
a  legal  right  to  take  arsenic  or  swallow  strychnine  ;  but  I 
have  no  moral  right  to  commit  this  self-destruction.  I 
have  a  legal  right  to  attend  the  theater.  No  policeman 
stands  at  the  door  to  exclude  me,  or  dares  to  eject  me 
while  my  conduct  is  orderly  and  becoming.  But  I  have 
no  moral  right  to  go  there  ;  not  merely  because  I  may  see 


^       / 


and  hear  much  that  may  soil  my  memory  for  days  and 
months,  but  because  that  whole  garnished  and  glittering 
establishment,  with  its  sensuous  attractions,  is  to  many  a 
young  person  the  yawning  maelstrom  of  perdition.  The 
dollar  which  I  gave  at  the  box  office  is  my  contribution 
toward  sustaining  an  establishment  whose  dark  foundations 
rest  on  the  murdered  souls  of  thousands  of  my  fellow  men. 
Their  blood  stains  its  walls,  and  from  that  "  pit  "  they 
have  gone  down  to  another  pit  where  no  sounds  of  mirth 
ever  come.  Now,  I  ask,  what  right  have  I  to  enter  a  place 
where  tragedies  that  are  played  off  before  me  by  painted 
women  and  dissolute  men  are  as  nothing  to  the  tragedies 
of  lost  souls  that  are  enacted  in  some  parts  of  that  house 
every  night  ?  What  right  have  I  to  give  my  money  and 
my  presence  to  sustain  that  moral  slaughter-house,  and  by 
walking  into  the  theater  myself  to  aid  in  decoying  others 
to  follow  me  ? 

REV.    THEO.    L.  CUYLER,    D.    D. 

To  THE  WoRKiNGMEN  OF  SCOTLAND. — Your  brawuy 
arms  make  "Glasgow  flourish."  Yonder  sweat  drives  the 
looms  of  Paisley  and  Dundee.  I  see  in  our  harbor  of 
New  York  the  splendid  steamer  you  launched  on  the  Clyde. 
Yet  the  great  mass  of  you  have  a  hard  pull  to  live,  and 
but  very  few  ever  grow  rich.  And  the  simple  cause  of 
most  of  this  poverty  is  that  the  bottle  burns  a  hole  in  your 
pockets.  You  cannot  support  your  own  families  and  a 
liquor  seller  besides.  Scotland  is  the  birthplace  of  savifigs 
banks.  How  much  did  you  deposit  in  them  during  the  year 
just  closed?  Your  cities  and  villages  are  full  of  banks  for 
losings  in  which  every  depositor  gains  a  loss.  Nothing  is 
paid  out  but  disease  and  drunkenness  and  disgrace  and 
death.  The  best  savings  bank  for  your  money  is  a  total 
abstinence  pledge.  The  best  savings  bank  for  your  affec- 
tions is  a  pure  woman's  heart.  The  best  savings  bank  for 
your  soul  is  a  trust  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  I  wish  that 
every  young  woman   in  Scotland  would  resolve  never  to 


4 


iiHti^^Ui|j!gfe|«il 


^^^^^ugSa^^^^^^M 


576 


THOUGHTS  FOR    THE   OCCASION. 


offer  a  glass  of  strong  drink  to  a  friend,  and  never  to  marry 
any  young  man  who  is  not  a  teetotaler. 

EXTRACT  FROM  ADDRESS  BY  THEO.  L.  CUYLER. 

There  is  at  least  one  immediate  and  practical  piece  of 
temperance  work  which  every  man  and  woman  can  do 
whatever  their  position  in  the  world,  or  wherever  they  may 
be,  and  that  is  to  put  away  the  bottle  or  the  wine  cup  from 
their  own  lips.  Anyone  who  is  not  willing  to  make  that 
sacrifice  for  the  good  of  his  fellow  men  has  yet  to  learn  the 
first  letter  of  the  temperance  alphabet— abstain. 

Internal  Revenue  Commissioner  Miller  has  sub- 
mitted to  Secretary  Carlisle  a  preliminary  report  of  the 
operations  of  the  Internal  Revenue  Bureau  for  the  last 
fiscal  year,  ending  June  20,  1893.  The  collections  from 
distilled  spirits  aggregated  $94,720,000,  an  increase  over 
the  previous  year  of  $3,410,000  ;  from  fermented  liquors, 
$32,548,000,  an  increase  of  $2,511,000.  The  tobacco 
collections  amounted  to  $31,889,000,  an  increase  of 
$889,000.  In  view  of  the  obvious  fact  that  the  nation  would 
be  vastly  better  off  every  way  without  any  alcoholic  bever- 
ages or  tobacco,  these  enormous  figures,  representing 
simply  the  internal  revenue  tax  on  each,  indicate  a  waste 
and  an  injury  of  immense  magnitude. 

Temperance  Advocate. 

The  Morgue  of  New  York  City.— The  large  percent- 
age of  crime  in  our  large  cities  is  chargeable  to  the  curse 
of  intemperance  ;  the  following  facts  from  the  Annual 
Report  of  the  Morgue  are  appalling,  and  show  that  8169 
bodies  were  there  received  during  the  year  ending  January 
I,  1894.  Bellevue  Hospital  contributed  1620  bodies,  other 
hospitals,  asylums,  and  penitentiaries  3227  bodies,  the 
"  Outdoor  Poor  "  3322  ;  of  the  latter  2316  were  the  bodies 
of  infants.  There  were  2746  bodies  claimed  and  buried  by 
friends,  and  5418  burials  in  Potter's  Field. 

Neiv  York  Herald,  January  3,  1894. 


■'nif^:^0f!fWfV-lgSi^ligt!!^ 


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